ears 


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*     MAR  30  1900      *) 


Forty  Years 


IN 


TheChurch  of  Christ 


Rev.  Charles  Chiniquy,  D.D. 

Author  of  "Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,"  etc. 


Wi 

1 

^&l 

fs 

Chicago,  New  York,  Toronto 

Fleming   H.    Revell    Company 


iqoo 


Copyrighted  1899 
By  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

This  book,  "  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ,"  is 
now  offered  to  the  public  with  the  belief  that  it  is  eminently 
adapted  to  interest  as  well  as  to  instruct. 

For  several  years  before  his  death.  Dr.  Chiniquy  had  in 
contemplation  the  preparation  of  an  account  of  his  life 
and  career  after  he  left  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  the  last 
years  of  his  life  were  largely  devoted  to  this  work,  so  that  at 
the  time  of  his  departure  it  was  substantially  complete. 

While  it  abounds  in  striking  incidents  and  events  in  the 
author's  wonderful  career,  this  book  is  not  designed  to  be  a 
connected  autobiography.  As  may  be  easily  inferred  from 
what  himself  says  in  his  preface,  Dr.  Chiniquy  aimed  to  re- 
late only  what  he  considered  could  be  made  subservient  to  the 
illustration  and  application  of  the  great  truths  of  the  Gospel 
he  so  ardently  loved.  Had  he  lived  longer,  however,  he 
would  probably  have  added  other  matter  at  his  command. 

In  editing  this  work,  there  have  been  no  essential 
changes  made.  It  bears  the  impress  throughout  of  the 
author's  marked  individuality  and,  as  to  matter  and  style,  the 
flavour  of  his  great  soul  permeates  every  page. 

Although  each  chapter  is  substantially  complete  in 
itself,  there  is  a  general  stream  of  characteristic  thought  and 
feeling  running  through  the  whole. 

The  responsibility   of   issuing   this   book   having   been 

committed  to  me  by  the  author,  my  revered  father=in=law,  I 

have  spared  no  pains  to  have  the  work  as  near  perfection  in 

every  respect  as  possible,  and,  in  this  connection,  I  am  glad 

to  acknowledge  the  valuable  assistance  I  have  received  from 

Rev.  Prof.  John  Moore,  of  Boston,  and  Rev.  Principal   Mac 

Vicar,  D.  D.,  of  Montreal. 

3 


4    .  Prefatory    Note 

I  feel  that  this  book  cannot  be  better  introduced  to  the 
readers  than  by  the  following  character  sketch  from  the  pen 
of  Dr.  MacVicar,  which  incorporates  his  address  to  the 
thousands  present  at  Dr.  Chiniquy's  funeral. 

J.  L.  MOBIN. 

65  Hutchison  Street,  Montreal. 


INTRODUCTION 

CHARLES  CHINIQUY:   HIS  LIFE  AND  WORK 
A  Character  Sketch,  by  the  Rev.  Principal  D.  H.  Mac  Vicar,  D.  D.,  LL.  D, 

The  death  of  Dr.  Chiniquy  on  the  16th  of  January  has 
called  forth  in  the  daily  press,  both  French  and  English,  in- 
numerable notices  of  his  unique  career.  The  general  fairness 
by  which  they  are  characterized  is  in  impressive  contrast 
with  the  treatment  he  often  received  in  his  lifetime,  and  may 
be  regarded  as  an  encouraging  sign  of  the  times. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  good  and  great  men  are  often 
misunderstood  and  misrepresented.  It  is  a  favourite  method 
with  the  devil  and  his  servants  to  direct  their  envenomed 
shafts  against  those  who  prominently  represent  and  uncom- 
promisingly propagate  the  truth  of  God.  So  not  a  few  of 
them  are  forced  to  pass  through  life  in  a  tempest,  but  the  end 
is  peace.     So  it  was  with  Chiniquy. 

His  life  has  been  so  often  sketched  that  it  seems  a  work  of 
supererogation  to  ofPer  anything  further  regarding  it.  For 
beauty,  for  graphic  and  dramatic  efiPect,  I  cordially  commend 
the  autobiography  from  his  own  pen.  It  covers  the  first 
fifty  years  of  his  life,  and  the  manuscript  recording  the  events 
of  the  remaining  forty  years  he  completed  before  his  demise 
and  forms  the  present  work.  If,  to  some,  the  record  seems 
unduly  voluminous,  let  them  remember  that  the  man  and  his 
work  were  extraordinary.  Taken  all  in  all,  we  shall  not  look 
upon  his  like  again. 

To  put  ourselves  in  possession  of  the  key  to  his  conduct, 
and  to'  understand  the  foundation  of  his  training  for  his  great 
mission,  we  must  begin  with  his  childhood.  It  is  in  early 
years,  when  the  faculties  are  pre=eminently  plastic  and  recep- 

5 


6  Introduction 

tive,  that  lasting  impressions  for  pood  and  evil  are  made.  In 
the  seclusion  of  home,  more  than  in  the  bustling  arena  of  the 
outside  world,  character  is  determined  and  moulded.  It  is 
there  that  boys  and  girls  receive  their  life  vocation.  The 
ministry  of  "the  church  in  the  house  "  is  usually  most  influ- 
ential.    This  was  the  experience  of  Dr.  Chiniquy. 

He  was  born  at  Kamouraska,  Quebec,  on  the  30th  of  July, 
1809.  His  father  passed  through  a  full  course  of  literary  and 
theological  training  for  the  priesthood  in  his  native  city, 
Quebec,  but  never  took  holy  orders.  He  studied  law  and 
became  notary,  and  ultimately  settled  at  Murray  Bay.  "  That 
place,"  says  Dr.  Chiniquy  in  his  autobiography,  "  was  then 
in  its  infancy,  and  no  schools  had  yet  been  established.  My 
mother  was,  therefore,  my  first  teacher."  A  wise  and  ad- 
mirable one  she  certainly  was,  and  taught  him  the  lessons 
which  governed  his  course  in  life,  and  which,  with  boundless 
enthusiasm  and  singular  success,  he  pressed  upon  the  accept- 
ance of  hundreds  of  thousands,  especially  during  the  last 
half  of  his  career. 

Here  I  use  his  own  words  as  descriptive  of  the  religious 
and  educational  discipline  he  enjoyed  in  the  home  of  his 
childhood : 

"  Before  leaving  the  Seminary  of  Quebec  my  father  had 
received  from  one  of  his  superiors,  as  a  token  of  his  esteem, 
a  beautiful  French  and  Latin  Bible.  That  Bible  was  the  fir.st 
book,  after  the  ABC,  in  which  I  was  taught  to  read.  My 
mother  selected  the  chapters  which  she  considered  the  most 
interesting  to  me;  and  I  read  them  every  day  with  the  great- 
est attention  and  pleasure.  I  was  even  so  much  pleased  with 
several  chapters  that  I  read  them  over  and  over  again  till  I 
knew  them  by  heart.  When  eight  or  nine  years  of  age  I  had 
learned  by  heart  the  history  of  the  creation  and  fall  of  man; 
the- deluge;  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac;  the  history  of  Moses;  the 
plagues  of  Egypt;  the  sublime  hymns  of  Moses  after  crossing 
the  Red  Sea;  the  history  of  Samson;  the  most  interesting 
event  of  the  life  of  David;  several  Psalms;  all  the  speeches 


Introduction  7 

and  parables  of  Christ;  and  the  whole  history  of  the  suffer- 
ings and  death  of  our  Saviour  as  narrated  by  John." 

He  then  tells  how  his  mother  used  to  question  him  regarding 
the  meaning  of  what  he  read,  and  how,  one  day  when  engaged 
in  studying  the  scene  upon  Calvary,  she  suddenly  burst  into 
tears,  and  both  wept  for  joy  as  the  love  of  the  crucified  Son  of 
God  touched  their  hearts. 

"  No  human  words  can  express  what  was  felt  in  her  soul 
and  in  mine  in  that  most  blessed  hour:  No,  I  will  never  for- 
get that  solemn  hour,  when  my  mother's  heart  was  per- 
fectly blended  with  mine  at  the  feet  of  our  dying 
Saviour." 

The  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  these  words,  and  of  the 
spiritual  light  then  shed  upon  his  soul,  is  seen  in  his  subse- 
quent conduct.  God's  Word  does  not  fail  in  its  mission,  or 
return  to  Him  void.  Immediately  the  lad  becomes  a  witness 
for  the  truth.  He  imparts  to  others  the  good  word  of  life 
which  he  has  himself  received.  And  with  the  glimpses  we 
possess  of  the  history  of  the  early  life  of  Samuel  and  Jere- 
miah and  Timothy,  and  of  "  the  children  crying  in  the  tem- 
ple and  saying,  '  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,' "  we  need  not 
doubt  that  boys  and  girls  at  eight  and  nine  are  capable  of 
rendering  such  blessed  services.  Hence  the  narrative  in 
young  Chiniquy's  case  proceeds: 

"  We  were  some  distance  from  the  church,  and  the  roads, 
on  the  rainy  days,  were  very  bad.  On  the  Sabbath  days  the 
neighbouring  farmers,  unable  to  go  to  church,  were  accustomed 
to  gather  at  our  house  in  the  evening.  Then  my  parents  used 
to  put  me  up  on  a  large  table  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly, 
and  I  delivered  to  those  good  people  the  most  beautiful  parts 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament.  The  breathless  attention, 
the  applause  of  our  guests,  and — may  I  tell  it — often  the 
tears  of  joy  which  my  mother  tried  in  vain  to  conceal,  sup- 
ported my  strength  and  gave  me  the  courage  I  wanted  to 
speak  when  so  young  before  so  many  people.  When  my  par- 
ents saw  that  I  was  growing  tired,  my  mother,  who  had  a  fine 


8  Introduction 

voice,  sang  some  of  the  beautiful  French  hymns  with  which 
her  memory  was  filled, 

"Several  times,  when  the  fine  weather  allowed  me  to  <j^o  to 
church  with  my  parents,  the  farmers  would  take  me  into  their 
caldches  (bus^fjies)  at  the  door  of  the  temple,  and  request  me 
to  give  them  some  chapter  of  the  Gospel.  With  the  most 
perfect  attention  they  listened  to  the  voice  of  the  child  whom 
the  Good  Master  had  chosen  to  give  them  the  bread  which 
came  from  heaven.  More  than  once  I  remember  that,  when 
the  bell  called  us  to  the  church,  they  expressed  their  regret 
that  they  could  not  hear  more." 

In  this  simple  narrative  we  have  the  secret  of  Dr.  Chini- 
quy's  extraordinary  power  in  after  life.  The  child  was  father 
to  the  man.  His  heart  and  thoughts  were  permeated  with 
Gospel  truth.  He  received  in  these  early  years  the  education 
which  stood  him  in  good  stead  to  the  end  of  his  days,  and 
proved  the  solace  and  joy  of  his  heart  in  the  last  hour. 

This  being  the  case,  why  should  we  for  a  moment  yield  to 
the  presumptuous  folly  of  those  who  regard  the  Bible  super- 
annuated, and  useless  as  a  school  book?  It  is  nothing  of  the 
sort.  Next  to  the  Saviour,  it  is  God's  best  gift  to  men,  fitted 
to  enlighten  their  intellects,  their  hearts  and  consciences,  and 
designed  by  Him  to  hold  the  first  place  in  the  home,  the 
school  and  the  college.  It  was  for  this  supremacy  of  the 
Word  that  Chiniquy  fought  his  thousand  battles. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  on  leaving  home  for  more 
advanced  and  literary  and  theological  studies,  he  entered 
upon  a  course  of  training,  much  of  which  he  afterwards  de- 
plored and  condemned.  Possibly  some  of  his  best  friends 
were  right  in  thinking  that  they  saw  occasionally  traces  of 
this  bad  education  in  his  after  life.  It  is  no  easy  task  to 
emancipate  oneself  fully  from  the  infiuence  of  what  is  incor- 
porated in  one's  very  nature  by  the  efficient  drill  of  the  class 
room.  And,  yet,  upon  a  broad  view  of  the  case,  this  training, 
which  Dr.  Chiniquy  publicly  repudiated  in  its  distinctive 
features,  was  essential  as  a  preparation  for  his  subsequent 


Introduction  9 

polemical  undertakings.  He  thus  gained  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with — an  inside  view  of — the  mighty  system  he 
was  destined  to  oppose.  It  is  a  great  matter  to  be  able  to 
speak  of  what  we  have  seen  and  learned  by  hard  personal 
experience.  An  experience  of  fifty  years  should  give 
weight  to  any  intelligent  and  honourable  man's  statement. 
And,  with  regard  to  Dr.  Chiniquy,  we  say  only  what  his 
Romish  co=religionists  with  practical  unanimity  acknowledge 
that  w^hile  in  their  communion  he  was  distinguished  for 
purity  of  life  and  actuated  by  lofty  motives.  And  the  same 
can  be  said  of  him  since  he  renounced  Romanism.  The  True 
Witness,  the  English  organ  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  Montreal,  in  an  article  on  his  death,  said:  "That  the  late 
Father  Chiniquy  had  been  the  author  of  great  good  in  his 
time,  it  would  be  untrue  and  unjust  to  deny;  that  he  crowded 
into  the  space  of  forty  years  more  than  any  other  man  in 
this  country — or  perhaps  in  any  other  one — is  equally  un- 
deniable." 

This  is  strong  testimony  and  in  accordance  with  facts  that 
have  been  repeatedly  published.  It  is  not  possible  in  the 
space  at  our  disposal  to  give  even  a  brief  epitome  of  what  is 
here  referred  to.  A  few  outstanding  instances  may  be  se- 
lected without  giving  details.  We  mention  his  great  cam- 
paign as  "  Apostle  of  Temperance."  In  this  he  closed  nearly 
all  the  distilleries,  breweries  and  saloons  of  the  province.  In 
1850  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  Bishop  Vandeveld,  of 
Chicago,  to  establish  a  colony  of  French=Canadians  in  Illinois. 
He  set  out  on  this  mission  with  the  blessing  of  the  Bishop  of 
Montreal,  and  was  successful  in  organizing  a  strong  settle- 
ment at  St.  Anne,  Kankakee  County.  Bishop  Vandeveld, 
being  removed  from  Chicago,  was  succeeded  by  Bishop 
O'Regan,  of  whom  Father  Chiniquy  complained  as  oppressing 
the  colonists.  The  rupture  between  them  became  serious,  and 
the  upshot  was  the  Bishop  was  deposed  by  the  Pope.  This 
was  brought  about  by  his  opponent  soliciting  the  aid  and  in- 
tervention of  Napoleon  III.,  who  had  powerful  influence  at  the 


lo  Introduction 

Vatican.  Was  this  an  instance  of  what  has  so  often  occurred 
— clerical  meddling  with  politics?  0'Rep;an  was  succeeded 
by  Bishop  Smith,  of  Iowa,  and  the  troubles  between  him  and 
Chiniquy,  after  many  keen  disputations  regarding  auricular 
confessions,  the  authority  of  the  church,  etc.,  reached  a  crisis. 
The  Bishop  pronounced  sentence  on  him  in  these  words, 
"You  can  no  longer  be  a  Roman  Catholic  priest."  Father 
Chiniquy  raised  his  hands  to  heaven,  and  cried,  "May  God 
Almighty  be  forever  blessed."  He  returned  to  his  colony, 
told  them  what  had  occurred,  and  soon  after  was  received, 
along  with  over  two  thousand  converts,  into  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  United  States.  Two  years  later  he  visited 
Canada  and  entered  the  Presbyterian  Church,  in  connection 
with  which  he  continued  to  labour  to  the  end  with  unflagging 
energy  and  zeal. 

During  forty  years,  all  along  the  line  of  action,  he  was 
privileged  to  see  the  abundant  results  of  his  strenuous  toils 
and  hard- fought  battles.  Thousands  upon  thousands  in  this 
and  other  countries  joined  the  ranks  of  his  followers.  In 
1874  he  became  the  champion  of  British  rights  and  liberties 
in  Montreal.  He  began  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  French 
Protestant  Church  on  Craig  Street,  and  was  soon  driven  from 
it,  narrowly  escaping  death,  all  the  windows  being  smashed 
with  stones  by  the  mob.  It  then  became  almost  impossible 
to  find  any  church  that  would  allow  him  to  speak  within  its 
walls.  I  finally  secured  for  him  the  basement  of  the  old 
Erskine  church  for  one  night,  and  thereafter  the  pastor,  the 
late  Dr.  R.  F.  Burns,  and  his  elders  and  deacons,  granted  him 
the  use  of  "The  Free  Church  Cote"  for  several  months. 
Thousands  pressed  to  hear  him  night  after  night. 

The  determination  was  to  let  the  multitudes  of  French 
people  who  desired  to  hear  the  Gospel  do  so,  and  thus  to 
vindicate  and  secure  for  all  the  right  of  free  speech.  It  was 
rough  and  even  dangerous  work.  We  retained  the  services 
of  over  thirty  policemen  every  night  inside  and  outside  the 
church.     We  were  often  followed  on  the  streets,  and   treated 


Introduction  ii 

to   showers  of  stones,   by    thousands    who     shouted,    "Kill 
Chiniquy!" 

Victory  was  ultimately,  not  on  the  side  of  the  mob,  but  of 
right  and  fair  play.  And  who  will  say  that  the  principles  at 
stake  were  not  worth  the  trouble  and  exposure  we  were  forced 
to  encounter? 

But  what  a  contrast  to  these  turbulent  scenes  appeared  on 
our  streets  and  in  Erskine  Church  on  the  19th  of  January! 
That  great  and  beautiful  edifice  could  not  contain  half  the 
people  who  pressed  for  entrance  to  do  honour  to  Chiniquy's 
memory.  The  funeral  procession  was  the  largest  witnessed 
in  our  city  since  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Mr.  McGee.  More 
than  ten  thousand  French  Roman  Catholics,  and  Protestants 
of  all  nationalities,  lined  the  streets  or  moved  in  the  solemn, 
silent  procession  that  bore  his  remains  to  the  church.  At 
least  four  thousand,  chiefly  French  Roman  Catholics,  dur- 
ing three  days,  reverently  entered  the  home  of  Father  Chini- 
quy and  looked  upon  his  calm  and  peaceful  face,  silent  in 
death.  One  old  man  walked  ten  miles  to  get  this  last  look. 
Many  begged  souvenirs  of  him,  and  were  given  such  in  the 
form  of  photographs  and  tracts  and  pamphlets  written  by 
their  deceased  friend.  Some  fell  upon  their  knees  by  the 
corpse  and  wept,  exclaiming,  "  How  wicked  we  were  to  have 
stoned  the  dear  old  servant  of  Christ."  What  a  change! 
They  had  received  the  Gospel  from  his  lips,  and  now  felt  in 
their  hearts  that  he  was  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus,  for  with  his 
latest  breath  he  had  expressed  his  unfaltering  trust  and  joy 
in  His  redeeming  love. 

Truly  history  repeats  itself.  Centuries  ago  Paul  and 
Barnabas  were  unlawfully  and  brutally  beaten  at  Philippi  for 
preaching  the  Gospel — the  same  ofiPense  for  which  Chiniquy 
was  repeatedly  stoned.  But  when  the  jailer  who  had  thrust 
them  in  the  inner  prison  and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the 
stocks  received  the  word  of  the  Lord  "  he  took  them  the  same 
hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes;  and  was  bap- 
tized, he  and  all  his,  straightway."     It   was  the  church  thus 


12  Introduction 

founded  in  a  stormy  conflict  that  afterwards  sent  gifts  by  the 
hands  of  Epaphroditus  to  Paul  when  a  prisoner  in  Rome. 
So  we  have  seen  it  with  our  own  eyes — the  people  who  had 
denounced  and  hunted  and  stoned  Chiniquy,  when  renewed 
by  Divine  grace,  vying  with  each  other  to  do  him  honour.  In 
the  face  of  these  facts  who  will  say  that  his  life  has  been  a 
failure,  or  that  there  has  not  been  the  most  cheering  and 
significant  growth  of  the  spirit  of  toleration  in  this  old 
province  of  Quebec?  In  this  all  patriotic  Canadians  should 
rejoice,  and  quit  them  like  men  and  true  Christians  by  seek- 
ing to  promote  the  true  unity  and  prosperity  of  our  great 
dominion  by  bringing  the  entire  population  under  the  power 
of  the  Gospel. 

I  close  this  imperfect  sketch  with  the  words  which  I 
uttered  before  the  thousands  assembled  in  Erskine  Church, 
regarding  the  late  venerable  Dr.  Chiniquy: 

Now  that  his  life=work  is  done,  and  he  rests  from  his 
labours,  it  may  be  profitable  to  ask,  how  are  we  to  regard  him? 
I  answer: 

He  was  a  distinguished  man,  of  unique  personality  and 
mission,  who  will  not  soon  be  forgotten.  In  many  respects 
he  stood  alone,  a  commanding  figure  in  our  country  and  cen- 
tury. His  ancestry  and  education  I  need  not  trace.  This 
has  been  done  by  his  own  pen,  and  his  exceptionally  high 
endowments,  his  literary,  theological  and  dialectic  skill  and 
genius  have  been  sufficiently  dwelt  upon  by  the  press.  His 
numerous  publications,  translated  into  many  languages,  and 
widely  circulated  in  many  parts  of  the  world,  are  a  lasting 
monument  to  his  al)ility  and  industry. 

His  missionary  labours  were  not  confined  to  one  country  or 
continent.  His  apostolic  zeal  in  disseminating  the  truth 
carried  him  through  Canada,  the  United  States,  Britain, 
Australia,  Tasmania,  the  Sandwich  Islands,  New  Zealand 
and  portions  of  Europe;  and  by  means  of  his  printed  works, 
brilliant  and  fascinating  in  style,  he  has  been  heard,  and  will 
continue  to  be  a  powerful  factor  in  the  thought  and  life  of 


Introduction  13 

regions  upon  which  his  eyes  never  rested.     "  He  being  dead 
yet  speaketh." 

He  will  be  remembered  as  an  enthusiastic  reformer.  In 
early  manhood,  and,  indeed,  to  the  end  of  his  own  life,  this 
was  his  proper  role,  not  an  easy  one,  as  proven  by  all  true 
reformers — religious,  social,  and  scientific.  The  qualities  re- 
quired for  such  a  mission  are  of  the  highest  order — faith  in 
God  and  man,  courage,  patience,  gentleness,  love,  indomita- 
ble perseverance,  a  spirit  of  self=sacrifice  and  willingness  to 
work  and  suflPer  and  die  for  the  truth  and  the  vindication  of 
human  rights. 

It  will  be  too  much  to  say  of  the  deceased,  or  of  any  mere 
man,  that  he  possessed  these  and  kindred  attributes  in  per- 
fection, but  the  record  of  his  many  struggles  gives  evidence 
of  the  high  degree  in  which  he  manifested  many  of  them; 
and  that  he  achieved  memorable  successes  has  been  acknowl- 
edged by  all.  This  was  conspicuously  the  case  in  his  heroic 
single-handed  battle  with  the  demon  of  intemperance,  when 
he  gained  a  glorious  victory,  for  which  he  received  marked 
recognition  by  the  citizens  of  Montreal,  and  was  publicly 
thanked  by  the  parliament  of  the  province  in  1851.  This  is 
but  one  instance  of  victory.  Need  I  remind  you  that  he 
lived  to  see  many  other  views  for  which  he  contended  tri- 
umphant? We  all  know  how  toleration,  independent  thought 
and  action  regarding  matters  civil  and  religious,  have  ad 
vanced  during  the  last  forty  years.  In  these  respects  Quebec 
of  to=day  is  not  what  it  was  for  the  preceding  century,  and, 
by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the  labours  of  the  deceased  and 
others  who  will  continue  his  mission,  brighter  days  are  yet  to 
dawn.  What  is  needed  is  a  larger  measure  of  his  faith  and 
manly  fortitude.  How  often  in  his  multitudinous  contro- 
versies did  he  appear  hedged  in  upon  all  sides — surrounded 
by  frowning,  impassible,  mountain  difficulties,  but  his 
courage  never  gave  way.  In  the  face  of  them  all,  like  heroes 
of  the  past  whom  we  delight  to  honour,  his  cry  was  ever, 
"Who  art  thou,  O  great  mountain?  Who  is  weak,  and  I   am 


14  Introduction 

not  weak?  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  who  strength- 
eneth  me." 

What  if  in  the  conflicts  through  which  reformers  necessa- 
rily pass  there  is  more  than  a  little  which  they  and  we, 
as  well  as  timid,  easedoving,  peace-loving  onlookers  deplore: 
shall  we  not  in  spite  of  this,  and  in  the  exercise  of  that 
broad  Christian  charity  which  rejoiceth  in  the  truth,  and 
thinkt'th  no  evil,  credit  them  in  the  face  of  convincing  evi- 
dence to  that  eflPect  with  sincerity  of  purpose,  and  manliness 
of  conduct  in  seeking  to  be  first  pure  and  then  peaceful?  I 
tell  you  what  you  all  know,  that  men  of  this  type  are 
especially  needed  in  our  day,  and  should  be  highly  esteemed 
— men  of  undaunted  boldness  and  holy  rashness,  if  you  will, 
who  fear  not  to  challenge  things  as  they  are  and  have  been, 
and  who  risk  everything  in  the  effort  to  secure  to  their  fel- 
low men  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  God  given  heritage  of 
civil  and  spiritual  freedom.  This  was  the  practical  altruism 
by  which  Dr.  Chiniquy  was  largely  characterized. 

Hence,  I  venture  to  think,  further,  that  he  will  be  remem- 
bered as  a  true  patriot.  The  fire  of  loyalty  to  our  sovereign 
and  country  burns  with  ardour  in  the  breasts  of  his  fellow 
countrymen,  but  in  none  with  greater  intensity  thai\  was  felt 
by  the  heart  of  him  whose  remains  lie  silent  before  us.  His 
was  a  patriotism,  a  love  of  country,  which  was  thoroughly 
outspoken,  based  upon  Christian  principles,  and  therefore 
united  with  a  catholicity  of  spirit  which  enabled  him  to 
rejoice  in  the  good  and  prosperity  of  the  many  other  coun- 
tries that  enjoyed  his  labours.  Hence,  with  the  Master  he 
could  heartily  say,  "The  field  is  the  world,"  and  with  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  he  uniformly  felt  and  said,  "My 
heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  my  countrymen  is  that 
they  may  be  saved."  With  all  his  love  of  freedom,  and  as 
the  champion  of  the  right  of  private  judgment  and  free 
speech  on  the  phit form  and  in  the  press,  this  was  the  great 
impelling  motive  of  his  life:  that  his  dear  countrymen  might 


Introduction  15 

enjoy  the  liberty  with  which  Christ  makes  His  people  free. 

We  do  not  say  that  in  his  strenuous  efforts  for  this  purpose 
he  never  erred.  God  forbid.  None  could  be  more  ready 
than  Dr.  Chiniquy  to  confess  to  God  in  the  closet  his  weak- 
nesses and  failures  and  sins.  And  how  often  have  thousands 
heard  him  say  so  in  public,  and  declare  that  his  only  hope 
was  in  the  alhsufficient  and  infinitely  efficacious  blood  of 
atonement,  which  cleanseth  from  all  sins.  In  this  faith  he 
lived,  and  in  this  faith  he  died.  You  have  read  his  testimony 
on  his  death -bed  to  this  effect;  and  were  the  lips  that  are  now 
silent  once  more  unsealed  they  would  declare  with  an  elo- 
quence inspired  from  the  kingdom  of  glory,  "  It  is  true — 1 
know  by  blessed  experience  that  Jesus  Christ,  and  He  alone, 
saves  to  the  uttermost  all  that  come  unto  God  by  Him." 

It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the  strongest  wish  of  Dr. 
Chiniquy's  heart  through  life  was  that  his  countrymen,  whom 
he  passionately  loved,  might  accept  this  glorious  message. 

I  testify  what  I  have  seen.  I  have  been  with  him  in  the 
solitude  of  his  chamber,  when  he  prayed  for  them  with  an 
earnestness  which  reminded  me  of  what  is  recorded  of  Knox, 
the  great  Scottish  reformer,  when  he  cried  to  God,  "  O  give 
me  Scotland  or  I  die." 

Finally,  I  venture  to  think  that  the  memory  of  Dr.  ChiniT 
quy,  as  a  broad=minded,  far-seeing.  Christian  patriot,  will 
have  a  permanent  place  in  the  history  of  Canada,  and  prove 
an  inspiration  to  thousands  of  his  countrymen  to  cling  to  the 
truth  and  the  Saviour  he  so  fervently  proclaimed.  That  truth 
he  ever  sought  to  put  into  the  hands  of  every  man  as  his 
birthright.  To  its  supreme  and  infallible  authority  alone, 
and  not  to  any  man  or  council,  he  yielded  unquestioning 
submission,  and  by  the  preaching  of  his  blessed  Saviour,  who 
is  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  life,"  he  was  honoured  of  God  in 
bringing  many  thousands  from  darkness  to  light.  These 
shall  be  his  joy  and  crown  of  glorying  before  our  Lord  Jesus 
at  His  coming;  and  then  it  will  appear  that  the  struggles  and 


i6  Introduction 

sorrows  of  life,  however  painful  and  prolonged,  are  not  worthy 
to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed,  for 
"  They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment; and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars 
forever  and  ever." 


PREFACE 

I  had  no  thought  of  writing  this  book  till  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Canada,  in 
1889  I  was  then  on  the  eve  of  celebrating  my  eightieth 
birthday,  and  on  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mac  Vicar,  Prin- 
cipal of  the  Presbyterian  College,  Montreal,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Warden,  Secretary=Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  French  Evan- 
gelization, the  Assembly  passed  a  vote  of  congratulation  as 
a  public  expression  of  Christian  esteem  towards  me.  At  the 
same  time,  a  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  to  invite 
me  to  write  a  new  book  under  the  name  of  "Thirty  Years  in 
the  Church  of  Christ,"  as  a  sequel  to  my  last  book,  "  Fifty 
Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome." 

I  could  not  but  yield  to  that  request,  for  I  felt  that  it  would 
not  be  doing  justice  to  my  God  and  to  myself  to  write  of  my 
half -century  of  bondage  under  Rome,  and  not  give  an  account 
of  my  glorious  liberty  under  Christ;  so  I  have  taken  steps  to 
prex^are  a  book  containing  some  of  the  most  striking  inci- 
dents and  events  since  I  came  into  the  possession  of  the  full 
and  blessed  light  of  the  Gospel,  covering  now  nearly  forty 
years. 

During  this  last  period  of  my  life,  which  has  been  very 
eventful,  I  have  traveled  in  many  countries  and  visited  dif- 
ferent continents,  and  I  have  given  thousands  of  sermons  and 
lectures,  and  thus  in  spreading  the  Gospel  I  have  had  the 
opxoortunity  of  seeing  human  nature  in  its  varied  aspects.  As 
these  experiences  of  mine  illustrate  the  saying,  "truth  is  some- 
times stranger  than  fiction,"  I  feel  that  what  I  have  to  say  in 
this  work  is  adapted  to  interest  as  well  as  to  impart  very  use- 
ful knowledge. 

The  Christian  readers  of  this  book  will  wish  to  know  at 

17 


1 8  Preface 

first  some  of  the  ways  throuu'li  which  our  merciful  God  has 
brought  me  from  the  feet  of  the  Pope  to  those  of  the  Lamb 
who  has  made  me  free  and  pure  with  His  blood.  In  the 
first  part  of  this  work  I  aim  to  satisfy  such  a  reasonable 
desire. 

As  history  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example,  I  endeavour 
to  give  in  the  book,  as  a  whole,  facts  which  suggest  and  teach 
lessons,  and  stir  up  greater  activity  on  the  part  of  Protestants 
to  resist  the  aggressions  of  Romanism,  and  to  spread  the 
truth  among  the  benighted  dupes  and  slaves  of  the  Pope. 

In  an  important  sense,  I  have  written  this  book  because  I 
could  not  help  it.  The  truth  I  have  is  not  my  own— it  be- 
longs to  my  heavenly  Father,  and  the  treasure  in  the  earthen 
vessel  I  am  bound  to  give  to  others  as  far  as  I  can. 

With  this  feeling  and  purpose,  I  send  forth  this  volume  on 
its  mission,  hoping  that  it  will  be  doing  good  after  I  am  gone, 
and  thus,  though  dead,  I  still  may  speak  to  others. 


CONTENTS 

^B^^^os 23-2i 

Invocation        ^^ 

CHAPTER  I 

A   Sketch   of   My   Life  Before   the  Dawn  of  the  Saving  Light        27-45 

CHAPTER  II 

The  Light  Breaks  npon  Me.  After  Much  Struggle  I  Accept 
Christ  and  Eternal  Life  as  a  Gift.  I  Present  the  Gift 
to  My  People    Who    Likewise  Accept  It 46-55 

CHAPTER  III 

My  Dear  Bible  Continues  to  Lift  Me  Up  Above  the  Dark  At- 
mosphere of  Romanism.  The  First  Publication  of  the 
Holy   Scriptures  in    Canada 56-66 

CHAPTER  IV 

The   Darkest   Hours   of  the   Night  Before  the  Bright  Rays  of 

*^«   I^^y 67-78 

CHAPTER  V 
A   Macedonian   Cry   from   Chicago.      Auricular   Confession      .         79-91 

CHAPTER  VI 

The   Temptation 90-99 

CHAPTER   VII 

Father   Brunet  a  Prisoner   in    My   Stead 100-106 

CHAPTER  VIII 

The   Famine 107-117 

CHAPTER  IX 

The   Angel   of   Mercy   and   the   Manna   from   Heaven.     God  is 

Our  Father,  We  are  His  Children 118-127 

CHAPTER  X 
A   Lesson    of   the   Mercies  of  God  in  Disguise     ....  128-135 

19 


20  Contents 

CHAPTER  XI 
The  Debts  Paid 136-141 

CHAPTER  XII 

New   Laborers   in  the  Lord's  Vineyard 142-147 

CHAPTER  XIII 
A   Macedonian   Cry   from  Canada 148-15-1 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Gospel  Preached  to  Thousands  of  Roman  Catholics  in 
iMontreal,  and  Hear  the  Priest  of  Napierville  Denounce 
Me  from  His  Pulpit 155-164 

CHAPTER  XV 

My   Missionary  Tour   Continued.     The  Dagger  of  the  Assassin     165-174 
on  My  Breast  at  Quebec 

CHAPTER  XVI 

How  Roman  Catholics  Understand  Liberty  of  Conscience. 
My  Letter  to  the  Bishops  of  Quebec  and  the  Priests  of 
Canada   175-180 

CHAPTER  XVII 

A  French  Officer  Saves  My  Life  at  Beloeil.    Grande  Ligne  and 

Longuevil  Visited.     Rev.  Theodore  Lafleur 181-188 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

Admitted   into   the  Presbyterian  Church  with   the  Bible  Alone 

in  My  Hand 189-193 

CHAPTER  XIX 
Muskegon— On   the  Borders  of  Lake  Michigan 194-199 

CHAPTER  XX 
Second   Day   at  Muskegon.     A  Narrow  Escape 200-205 

CHAPTER  XXI 
The  Assassination   of    Lincoln 206-23:^ 

CHAPTER  XXII 

A  Great  and  Good  Institution:  The  Presbyterian  College,  Mon- 
treal.    The    Rev.     Dr.   MacVicar 233-239 

CHAPTER  XXIII 
Antigonish  Riot  of  the  10th  of  July,  1873 240-245 


Contents  2i 

CHAPTER  XXIV 
My  Resbaptism 246-256 

CHAPTER  XXV 
The  Stratagem 257-264 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

Deplorable   and  False  Liberality  in  High  Protestant  Quarters 

With  Respect  to  the  Church  of  Rome 265-281 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

A  Presbyterian  Minister  Approves.     The  Romanists  Condemn 

and  Persecute 282-293 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

Rebuked  by  a  Prominent  Presbyterian  Minister— Approved  by 

His  Congregation 294-302 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

On  My  Way  to  Australia.     California,  Oregon,  and  Washington 

Territory 303-325 

CHAPTER   XXX 
On  Board  Steamer  City  of  Sidney 326-335 

CHAPTER  XXXI 
On  My  Way  to  Australia.     Sights  on  the  Pacific 336-345 

CHAPTER  XXXII 
On  My  Way  to  Australia.     The  Dangers  of  the  Deep     ....     346-354 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 
A'lstralia       355-364 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 

Visit  to  Hobert  Town.     Account  of  the  Disturbances.     Closing 

Lecture.     Dramatic  Scenes 365-384 

CHAPTER  XXXV 

Ballarat  and  Horsham.  Riots— Narrow  Escapes.  A  Woman 
Spits  in  My  Face  to  Obey  Her  Father  Confessor.  The 
Muddy  Ditch 385-391 

CHAPTER  XXXVI 
Abbe  Fluet's  Conversion,  Temptation  and  Final  Triumphs     .    .    392-401 


22  Contents 

CHAPTER  XXXVII 

The  Truth  Proclaimed  at  Moiitaj^ue.     Narrow  Escape — Brutally 

Struck  whilst  on  the  Steamer.     I  Forgive  My  Aggressor  .     402-404 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

A  Vindication 405-416 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 

Senator  Tasse's    Dastardly  Attack  Answered 417-437 

CHAPTER  XL 

Priests'  Efforts  to  Reach  My  Bed  of  Sickness  Frustrated.  Chal- 
lenge  to    Archbishop    not   Accepted 438-449 

CHAPTER  XLI 

My  Fourth  Visit  to  Europe  in  1896.  The  Challenge  of  Father 
Begue  Accepted.  The  Roman  Breviary.  Discussion  at 
Oben 450-469 

CHAPTER  XLII 

My  Fourth  Trip  to  England  Continued.  Severe  Illness  and  Re- 
covery. Invitation  to  Lecture  in  Holland  Accepted.  A 
Week  in  Paris.  Germany  Visited — The  Pulpit  and  Tomb 
of  Lutlier.  Return  to  Canada.  The  Close  of  this  Book 
and  of   Life's   Voyage 470^77 

CHAPTER  XLIII 

The  Final  Triumph.  Requiescat  in  Pace!  I.  The  Last  Mes- 
sage of  Father  Chiuiquy:  His  Ante=Mortem  Declaration 
of  Faith,  Signed  and  Attested  Six  Days  Before  His 
Death.  Reasons  Why  He  Could  not  Return  to  the 
Church  of  Rome.  II.  Address  Delivered  at  the  Funeral 
service  of  Father  Chiniquy  on  Thursday,  19th  January, 
1899,  by  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Amaron.  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  St. 
John's  French  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  the  De- 
ceased was  a  Metnber.  III.  Memorial  Service.  Ser- 
mon Preached  by  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Mowatt,  in  Erskiue 
Church,  in  Montreal,  on  Sunday  morning.  Jan.  22,  1899. 
The  Apostle  of  French  Evangelization.  IV.  Resolutions 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Montreal,  of  which  Father  Chiniquy 
was  a  Member,    Montreal,    March,    14th  1899     ....     478^98 


INVOCATION 

Merciful  Heavenly  Father: — To  obey  Thee,  when  speak 
ing  to  me  through  Thy  Church,  I  will  tell  Thy  children  some 
of  the  things  I  have  seen,  heard  and  done  since  the  blessed 
day  that  Thou  hast  given  me  Thy  saving  light.  Do  Thou  help 
me  .  .  .  guide  my  thoughts  and  my  pen  in  such  a  way  that 
everything  I  say  will  be  for  Thy  glory  and  the  good  of  Thy 
redeemed  ones.     Amen! 


25 


Fa'iiii-,k  CiiiNK.ii  s    ai    so  \i-..\ks  of  A(;e 


CHAPTER  I 

A  Sketch  of  My  Life  Before  the  Dawn  of  the  Saving  Light 

When  relating  the  story  of  the  mercies  of  God  towards  me 
these  last  forty  years,  I  cannot  ignore  that  my  Christian  readers 
will  like  to  know  something  of  my  priestly  life;  so  I  will  give 
them  a  sketch  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  my  life  be- 
fore the  dawn  of  the  saving  light  of  the  Gospel  came  in  its 
fulness  upon  me. 

I  was  born  at  Kamouraska,  on  the  30th  of  July,  1809.  My 
father,  Charles  Chiniquy,  was  a  notary.  My  mother's  name 
was  Marie  Reine  Perreault.  My  grandfather,  Martin  Et 
Chiniquia,  was  a  fearless  sailor  from  French  Biscay  in  the  serv- 
ice of  the  king  of  France.  His  ship,  like  many  of  the  ships 
of  those  days,  being  half  military  and  half  merchant,  was  well 
known  by  the  English  wardships  with  which  he  had  several 
encounters.  Wolf,  on  his  way  to  capture  Quebec,  in  1759, 
seized  and  forced  Et  Chiniquia  with  other  pilots  to  navigate 
the  fleet  through  the  dangerous  St.  Lawrence  river. 

Several  times,  when  a  young  lad,  I  heard  him  telling  us 
how,  during  the  way  up  the  river  to  Quebec,  there  were  two 
soldiers  with  i^istols  close  to  his  ears,  in  order  to  blow  out  his 
brains  if  his  ships  touched  the  bottom;  but  he  did  his  duty 
so  well,  though  reluctantly,  that  his  new  masters,  after  the 
conquest  of  Quebec,  rewarded  him  by  putting  him  the  head 
master  of  the  harbour  of  that  city. 

My  father  went  to  Murray  Bay  w4ien  I  was  still  young,  and 
died  thete  suddenly.  It  was  in  a  year  when  the  crops  had 
failed  and  there  was  a  famine  raging  all  around.  Our  only 
support  was  the  milk  of  a  cow  which  had  been  given  me  when 
a  calf  by  the  landlord,  Nairn.     But  the  priest  wrenched  that 

27 


28  Forty    Years   in   the  Church   of  Christ 

providential  support  from  my  mother  on  the  pretense 
of  takinijj  the  soul  of  my  father  from  the  flames  of  purgatory. 
We  came  very  near  starvin.LC  to  death;  fortunately,  my  mother 
had  a  sister  married  to  a  very  rich  merchant  of  Kamouraska, 
Mr.  Dionne,  who  came  to  take  me  as  his  own  child.  My 
father  had  studied  to  be  priest  before  being  married, 
taking  a  complete  course  of  theology  in  the  seminary  of  Que- 
bec, and  had  received  as  a  token  of  esteem  from  the  Superior  of 
the  seminary  a  magnificent  Sacy  Bible,  half  in  Latin  and  half 
in  French.  As  there  were  no  schools  near  us  in  Murray  Bay, 
my  mother  was  my  first  teacher,  and  the  book  in  which  I 
learned  to  read  was  the  Bible,  and  the  fiist  word  I  learned 
to  spell,  by  the  providence  of  God,  was  ''B-i-b-1-e." 

I  was  exceedingly  fond  of  reading  that  Book  and  the  time 
I  was  not  giving  to  fishing,  or  catching  hares,  was  spent  in 
reading  its  marvelous  pages.  I  not  only  read  them,  but 
learned  by  heart,  under  the  guidance  of  my  mother,  the  most 
interesting  parts.  It  was  not  without  childish  pride  that  I 
recited  those  chapters  to  the  farmers  who  used  to  come  to  my 
father's  office.  I  will  never  forget  one  beautiful  Sabbath 
day,  going  to  church  with  my  mother.  A  farmer  asked  me  if 
I  would  not  recite  before  the  whole  crowd  the  chapter  he  had 
heard  from  me  the  week  before  in  my  father's  house.  Hav- 
ing consented,  he  took  me  in  his  arms,  placed  me  in  his 
caldche  and  there  I  recited  in  my  best  style  the  story  of  the 
Prodigal  Son.  There  was  not  a  dry  eye  when  I  finished;  but 
the  priest,  his  name  was  Courtois,  having  heard  that  a  child 
had  given  a  chapter  of  the  Bible  to  his  people,  thought  it  ad- 
visable to  put  a  stop  to  such  a  scandfil.  The  next  morning 
he  was  early  at  my  father's  house  to  get  that  Bible  and  burn 
it.  Trembling  by  the  side  of  my  mother,  lest  my  Bible, 
be  given  up  to  be  destroyed,  I  was  listening  with  a  breathless 
attention  for  my  father's  answer,  and  my  heart  leaped  with 
unspeakable  joy  when  I  heard  him  showing  the  door  to  the 
priest,  saying,  "You  know  what  door  by  which  you  entered, 
take  the  same  door  and  go."     It  was  the  first  and  last  time  I 


Before  the  Dawn  of  the  Saving  Light  ig 

ever  saw  one  of  the  priests  in  my  father's  house,  they  not  being 
on  good  terms,  though  I  never  knew  why. 

Not  very  long  after  I  was  at  Kamouraska,  the  celebrated 
Bishop  Duplessis  came  to  give  the  confirmation.  He  was  a 
personal  friend  of  my  uncle  Dionne,  who  received  him  as  his 
guest.  He  had  siaecially  noticed  me  among  the  little  boys  in 
the  choir  and  learning  that  I  was  his  host's  nephew,  he  called 
for  me  in  the  parlour  when  surrounded  by  his  priests.  He 
took  me  by  the  hand,  and  said,  "  Look  at  me,  my  little  boy. 
How  old  are  you  ?  .  .  .  Would  you  not  like  to  be  a  priest  ?  " 
My  mother  had  asked  me  that  question  many  times  before  and 
I  had  always  answered:  "  Yes,  mother."  Li  my  mind  there 
was  nothing  so  exalted  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  after  God,  as  a 
priest,  so  with  a  trembling  voice  I  answered  the  Bishop: 
"  Yes,  my  lord,  I  would  like  to  be  a  priest."  Then  the  Bishoj) 
looking  at  my  uncle  said  to  him,  "Mr.  Dionne,  have  you 
any  objection  to  sending  that  dear  little  boy  to  my  college  in 
Nicolet,  perhaps  we  shall  make  a  bishop  of  him?  "  My  uncle 
answered:  "My  lord,  I  will  be  very  happy  to  send  him  to 
your  college,"  and  he  kept  his  word.  The  next  fall  it  was  my 
privilege  to  begin  a  course  of  study  in  the  college  of  Nicolet 
which  I  finished  with  good  success  in  the  year  1829. 

After  spending  four  years  as  a  teacher  of  Belles^Lettres  in 
the  same  college  of  Nicolet,  I  was  ordained  a  priest  on  the 
31st  of  September,  1833,  by  Archbishop  Sinai,  of  Quebec. 

The  next  day  I  was  sent  to  St.  Charles,  Riviere  Boyer,  as 
vicar  of  the  Reverend  M.  Perras,  where  I  remained  only  eight 
months.  The  Reverend  M.  Bedard,  curate  of  Charlesbourg, 
who  had  been  one  of  my  father's  teachers  in  theology,  having 
expressed  the  desire  that  I  should  take  charge  of  his  parish 
during  the  summer  while  he  would  accompany  the  Bishop  in 
his  visits  in  the  diocese,  I  left  St.  Charles  for  Charlesbourg 
in  the  beginning  of  June.  It  was  there  that  God  had  pre- 
pared me  one  of  the  most  terrible  trials  of  my  life.  I  had 
hardly  been  a  week  in  my  new  charge  when  my  parish  was 
attacked  by  the  cholera  morbus.     In  the   short   space   of  a 


30  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

month  I  buried  more  than  thirty  of  my  parishioners.  Day 
and  ni,ii:ht  I  had  to  be  about,  consoling  the  sick  and  preparing 
the  dying.  After  having  spent  the  day  in  visiting  the  sick, 
besides  the  burials,  I  had  to  spend  the  night  in  hearing  con- 
fessions. As  there  were  no  physicians  around,  I  had  to  take 
care  of  the  bodies  as  well  as  the  souls.  And  those  of  my 
readers  who  would  like  to  know  anything  about  that  terrible 
plague,  which  made  so  many  victims  in  Canada  during  that 
year,  may  read  it,  in  my  book  "  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of 
Rome."  When  M.  B^dard  came  back  from  his  visits  with 
the  Bishop,  the  plague  was  over,  and  I,  after  two  months  of 
deserved  rest,  was  named  for  one  of  the  vicars  of  M.  Tetu, 
curate  of  St,  Rock,  Quebec,  It  was  there  that  I  had  the 
providential  opportunity  of  studying  the  laws  of  anatomy  in 
the  Marine  hospital  of  Quebec,  under  the  celebrated  Dr, 
Douglas,  and  it  was  there,  after  studying  four  years  the  rav- 
ages of  alcohol  in  the  human  frame,  I  went  on  my  knees  and 
swore  that  I  would  never  drink  any  more  of  those  deadly 
alcoholic  beverages,  and  that  I  would  do  all  in  my  power  to 
persuade  my  countrymen  to  do  the  same  thing.  To=day  peo- 
ple would  hardly  believe  me,  would  I  tell  them  the  commotion 
it  created  when  the  next  day  I  refused  to  take  my  glass  of  wine 
and  beer  at  the  table.  A  few  days  later  the  Bishop  sent  for 
me  to  know  if  what  he  had  heard  was  true.  He  gave  me  a 
severe  lecture  and  ordered  me  to  give  up  that  resolution;  but 
I  stood  firm  as  a  rock.  In  vain  he  tried  to  persuade  me  that 
it  was  a  heresy,  already  condemned  by  the  church,  to  have  such 
narrow  views  concerning  wine  and  beer,  but  to  everything 
he  said  I  told  him  that  I  had  studied  that  question  in  the 
best  book,  written  by  God  himself,  which  was  the  human 
body,  and  that  I  had  seen  with  my  eyes  that  every  drop 
which  goes  into  the  body  is  a  poison,  Aniong  my  arguments, 
I  opened  his  Bible  and  read  in  the  twenty^hird  chapter  of 
Proverbs,  verse  thirty=one,  "  Look  not  upon  the  wine  when  it 
is  red,  whenitgivetli  his  colour  in  the  cup,  when  itmoveth  itself 
aright.     At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like 


Before, the  Dawn  of  the   Saving  Light  31 

an  adder."  It  was  evident  to  me  that  the  good  Bishop  did 
not  remember  ever  having  seen  those  words:  he  was  so 
amazed  at  them. 

But  I  must  not  omit  here  to  say  a  word  about  the  bloody 
insurrection  of  1837-88.  We  knew  that  a  conspiracy  among 
our  parishioners  of  St.  Rock  was  organized  to  upset  the  Eng- 
lish Government  and  to  unite  themselves  with  the  United 
States.  In  the  month  of  December,  a  few  days  before  the 
battle  of  St.  Denis,  we  noticed  a  great  excitement,  and  we 
were  all  in  fear  that  we  were  fast  approaching  a  terrible  crisis. 
One  evening  Dr.  Rousseau,  who  had  been  one  of  my  classmates 
in  Nicolet  and  who,  of  course,  was  very  familiar,  came  about 
nine  o'clock  to  our  parsonage  where  there  were  five  priests. 
We  knew  that  he  was  a  leader  of  the  conspiracy  against  the  gov- 
ernment and  he  had  evidently  come  to  gain  our  influence  to 
his  views,  and,  with  a  freedom  which  filled  me  with  disgust 
and  distress,  he  revealed  to  us  a  part  of  their  plans.  Although 
we  were  in  favour  of  reforms  we  were  opposed  to  a  civil  war 
by  which  we  poor,  weak  French  Canadian  people  w^ould 
be  crushed  by  the  mighty  English  nation.  I  tried  to  show 
him  the  absurdity  of  the  plans  he  was  just  speaking  of  to  us, 
as  hundreds  of  cannon  of  the  impregnable  citadel  of  Quebec 
could,  in  a  few  minutes,  make  a  pie  of  the  citizens  of  St. 
Rock. 

With  impassioned  words  he  answered  me,  "Ah,  the  citadel! 
the  citadel!  We  are  sure  to  get  it  opened  when  the  day  of 
justice  comes.  The  Irish  Catholic  guards  are  pledged  to  open 
the  doors,  and  then  we  will  put  to  the  sword  our  merciless 
English  tyrants  inside  and  outside  the  citadel."  I  could  not 
restrain  myself  any  longer.  I  jumped  at  him  saying,  "You 
miserable  traitor,  you  are  not  satisfied  to  be  a  traitor  yourself, 
you  want  to  make  us  your  accomplices,"  and  addressing  my- 
self to  M,  Tetu,  I  said,  "You  ought  not  to  allow  that  man  to 
come  here  to  try  and  enroll  us  under  bis  traitorous  banner.  I 
see  now  that  they  are  preparing  here  a  new  St.  Bartholomew 
slaughter.     I  have  suspected  it  for  some   time,   but   I   will 


32  Forty  Years   in   the   Church  of  Christ 

oppose  it  so  long  as  I  have  a  drop  of  blood  in  my  veins.  I 
prefer  to  be  ruled  by  the  noble  English  nation.  You  ought 
to  turn  that  traitor  out  of  here,  but  as  you  do  not  do  it,  I 
will  do  it  for  you  "  Then  taking  hold  of  the  back  of  his 
neck  by  my  right  hand,  I  pushed  him  down  stairs  more 
quickly  than  he  had  ever  gone  down  before.  Then  coming 
up,  I  said  to  the  priests:  "It  is  evident  that  they  are  prejaar- 
ing  one  of  those  horrible  tragedies  which  are  a  shame  to  our 
religion  and  our  nation.  They  want  to  slaughter  the  English 
under  the  pretext  that  they  are  Protestants.  They  rely  on 
the  treachery  of  the  Irish  Catholics,  who,  being  on  guard  at 
the  citadel,  will  oi)en  the  doors.  I  will  go  immediately  to 
the  governor  to  warn  him  of  the  danger."  Half  an  hour 
later,  I  was  with  Governin-  Gasford.  It  was  after  ten  o'clock 
at  niglit.  "My  lord,"  I  said,  "I  come  here  on  a  solemn 
errand.  I  want  you  to  keep  my  message  a  secret  between 
you  and  me.  There  is  a  conspiracy  among  the  Irish  soldiers 
of  the  garrison  to  o]5en  the  door  of  the  citadel  and  there  will 
be  a  general  slaughter  of  you  and  the  English  j)eople  of  Que- 
bec in  a  few  days  if  the  insurgents  of  Montreal  are  victorious 
in  the  first  battle  which  is  to  be  fought  there."  The  gov- 
ernor thanked  me  and  said,  "  Please  give  me  the  names  of 
the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy."  I  replied,  "  No,  I  cannot  do 
that.  I  do  not  come  here  as  an  informant  or  traitor  against 
my  own  countrymen,  I  only  want  to  save  them  from  their 
own  folly  as  I  want  to  save  the  English  from  the  impending 
danger.  I  hope  your  lordship  will  thus  understand  the  deli- 
cacy of  my  position  as  I  risk  my  life  in  what  I  am  doing  now. 
You  caiiiiot  ask  any  thing  more.  I  ask  on  your  honour  not  to 
betray  me.     Put  oidy  Protestants  to  guard  your  citadel." 

A  few  days  later  the  battle  of  St.  Denis  was  fought  and 
gained  by  the  French  Canadian  patriots,  but  the  plot  of  tak- 
ing the  citadel  of  Quebec  had  failed  because,  to  the  unspeak- 
able dismay  of  the  Quebec  patriots,  all  the  Irish  guards  at 
the  citadel  had  been  changed. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  incident  that  the  Bishop,  having 


Before  the   Dawn  of  the   Saving  Light  23 

heard  that  I  had  given  two  lectures  on  the  reasons  we  had  to 
give  up  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  called  me  to  his  palace 
to  ascertain  if  it  were  true  that  I  had  given  these  two  ad- 
dresses. Then,  on  my  answering  in  the  affirmative,  he  was 
beside  himself  with  anger  and,  pacing  up  and  down  the  room, 
said,  "  This  teetotalism  is  only  a  Protestant  afPair.  I  will  not 
allow  any  of  my  priests  to  proclaim  those  principles  in 
Canada."  I  answered,  "My  lord,  be  calm,  please,  you  are 
mistaken.  Father  Mathew  now  is  blessed  all  over  the  world 
for  preaching  teetotalism  in  Ireland.  It  is  only  a  few  days 
since  we  read  that  the  Pope  had  sent  him  his  aiDostolic  bene- 
diction." "  Well,"  said  he,  "it  may  be  very  well  for  Ireland  to 
have  those  doctrines  preached,  for  is  it  a  welbknown  fact  that 
drunkenness  is  the  great  plague  of  that  nation;  but  it  is  a 
different  thing  with  our  dear  Canada.  It  is  an  insult  to  com- 
pare that  nation  with  ours.  Read  that  paper  and  you  will 
see  my  opinion  about  you,"  and  he  presented  me  a  sheet  of 
paper  written  with  his  own  hand,  but  not  signed.  What  was 
my  surprise  and  my  dismay  to  read  in  that  paper  that  he 
absolutely  forbade  me  to  preach  teetotalism  and  if  I  did  not 
submit  to  his  will  he  threatened  me  with  excommunication. 
"It  is  not  signed,"  said  he,  "but  I  will  sign  it  the  first  time 
you  disobey  me."  I  replied:  "  My  lord,  evidently,  if  you 
had  been  near  Zacharias  when  the  angel  came  to  tell  him  that 
his  son  would  be  great  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  would 
neither  drink  wine  nor  strong  drink,  you  would  have  excom- 
municated that  angel,  and  if  you  had  been  near  the  angel 
when  he  brought  his  message  to  the  mother  of  Samson 
telling  her  not  to  drink  wine  or  strong  drink,  you  would  also 
have  excommunicated  him  as  you  want  to  excommunicate 
me."  My  words  fell  upon  him  as  a  thunderbolt,  and  with  a 
much  subdued  voice,  he  said,  "I  have  not  signed  that,  but 
will  do  it, if  you  do  not  what  I  say.  I  am  your  superior." 
Then  I  said,  "  I  will  see  what  I  will  have  to  do  when  you  ex- 
communicate me,"  and  I  left  him,  trembling  with  indigna- 
tion at  his   tryanny.     A  few  weeks  later  the  Bishop   again 


34  Forty   Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

called  me  to  his  palace  and  said:  "  Your  father  was  my  per- 
sonal friei;d  and  my  pupil.  Like  you,  he  had  some  good, 
but  also  some  very  bad  (jualities,  and  you  have  inherited  only 
his  good  qualities.  You  oifended  me  the  other  day  by  your 
stubborn  resistance  to  my  will.  I  want  to  punish  you  by 
putting  you  at  the  head  of  the  parish  of  Beaui^ort  which  has 
the  reputation  of  possessing  the  greatest  number  of  drunk- 
ards in  Canada.  If  you  wish  to  fight  the  demon  of  intem- 
perance you  will  have  opportunities  to  do  it  there  to  your 
heart's  content."'  Had  he  told  me  he  would  send  me  to  the 
penitentiary,  he  would  not  have  distressed  me  more,  but  in 
spite  of  all  my  objections,  I  had  to  accept  the  charge. 

Reverend  M.  Begin,  who  was  my  predecessor  in  Beauport, 
was  one  of  those  good  old  Canadian  priests  who  had  taken 
his  views  on  temperance  from  St.  Ligouri,  who  says  that  so 
long  as  a  man  can  distinguish  a  pin  from  a  load  of  hay  he  is 
not  drunk.  Not  to  be  too  long  on  this  question,  I  found  that 
the  parish  of  BeauiDort,  at  the  door  of  Quebec,  was  one  of  the 
oldest  parishes  of  Canada,  that  its  revenues  were  the  richest. 
Its  soil  could  not  be  surpassed,  the  fisheries  were  then  ex- 
ceedingly rich,  their  gardens,  their  limestones,  with  the 
forests  around  gave  them  incalculable  resources.  But  they 
expended  so  much  money  in  their  drinking  habits  that  they 
had  never  been  able  to  have  a  school  and  teach  their  children, 
when  they  had  seven  taverns  doing  an  immense  business  in 
their  midst.  The  number  of  drunkards,  old  and  young,  men 
and  women,  were  so  numerous  that  I  do  not  dare  to  say.  I 
would  not  be  believed.  To  make  such  a  j^ieople  sober  was 
surely  above  the  strength  of  a  man.  But  what  is  impossible 
to  man  is  easy  to  our  merciful  God.  With  tears  of  sorrow 
and  ardent  prayer  day  and  night,  I  asked  God  to  help  me  to 
save  that  peoj^le. 

Not  long  before,  a  fact  had  occurred  which,  though  Already 
in  my  former  book,  may  have  again  its  place  here.  A  lady  in 
the  highest  ranks  of  society,  but  unfortunately  a  desperate 
drunkard,  had  killed  her  only  child  whilst  drunk.     Carrying 


Before  the   Dawn  of  the  Saving  Light  35 

her  in  her  arms,  she  had  fallen,  and  the  head  of  the  little  one 
had  struck  the  sharp  angle  of  the  stove  with  such  force  that 
the  skull  was  fractured  and  the  brains  had  been  scattered  on 
the  floor.  Death  was  instantaneous.  When  called  by  the 
unfortunate  husband,  I  found  her  in  the  arms  of  Dr. 
Blanchet,  Coroner  Panet,  and  her  bereaved  husband,  trying 
to  kill  herself.  She  begged  for  a  knife.  She  filled  the  house 
with  her  cries,  "  I  am  lost!  I  killed  my  darling,  I  want  to  be 
buried  with  her!"  Though  four  men  were  holding  her  it  was 
with  diflBculty  that  we  could  prevent  her  from  killing  herself. 
At  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night  she  slipped  from  our  hands, 
filling  the  house  with  her  cries,  ran  to  the  cradle,  and,  quick 
as  lightning,  she  took  her  child  in  her  arms,  tore  the  bandage 
which  held  the  skull  in  place  and  pressed  her  face  and  her 
lips  in  the  gaping  wound.  Then  she  ran  around  the  room 
crying,  "I  am  lost!  I  am  damned!"  and  falling  on  her  knees 
before  me,  she  cried,  "  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  can  a  drunken 
woman  who  has  killed  her  dear  child  be  saved?  Dear  Lucy, 
can  you  not  forgive  me  thy  death?  O  cursed  wine!  Why  did 
I  not  follow  your  advice  when  so  often  with  tears  you  asked 
me  to  give  up  that  cursed  wine!  Please  take  that  blood  and 
that  brain,  go  around  Canada,  and  put  it  on  the  top  of  every 
house  in  our  country.  Say  it  is  the  blood  and  brains  of  a 
child  murdered  by  her  drunken  mother.  Tell  the  people 
never  to  touch  a  drop  of  that  wine.  It  is  cursed  in  hell, 
cursed  on  earth,  and  cursed  in  heaven."  And  when  saying 
this,  torrents  of  blood  flowed  from  her  mouth;  a  vein  had 
burst,  and  she  fell  dead  at  our  feet. 

Was  not  this  a  message  from  my  God?  The  spectacle  of 
that  blood  and  of  the  corpses  of  those  two  victims  of  wine 
were  stereotyped  in  a  mysterious  way  into  my  whole  being, 
and  it  gave  me  an  energy,  a  power  and  eloquence  which 
were  not  mine.  That  energy  and  power  were  irresistible,  for 
I  felt  in  that  solemn  hour  they  came  direct  from  my  God  to 
me  that  I  might  fulfil  a  grand  and  blessed  mission  in  my 
dear  country. 


3.6  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

Before  a  year  had  elapsed,  the  people  of  Beauport  were  the 
mo8t  Bober  people  of  Canada.  Not  a  drop  of  liquor  could  be 
sokl  among  them. 

The  God  of  the  Gospel  had  again  come  to  the  touch  of  the 
dead  Lazarus,  and  looking  down  in  Divine  compassion  had 
shed  tears  of  distress  on  the  corpse  of  His  dead  friend,  and 
said,  "  Lazarus,  come  forth,"  and  Lazarus  came  out.  The 
great  God  of  heaven  had  taken  by  the  hand  the  noble 
people  of  Beauport,  and  had  made  them  march  at  the  head 
of  one  of  the  greatest  temperance  reformations  that  not 
only  Canada,  but  the  whole  world,  has  ever  seen.  I  thought 
that  my  duty  was  to  keep  the  remembrance  of  that  remarka- 
ble event.  I  gave  three  hundred  dollars  to  M.  Leprohon,  the 
best  architect  of  Quebec,  to  make  the  column  of  Temperance 
which  I  asked  the  Bishop  of  Nancy  to  bless  on  the  seventh 
of  September,  1841. 

This  column  is  still  standing  and  can  be  seen  on  the  road 
going  to  the  Falls  of  Montmorency,  about  half  =  way  between 
Quebec  and  Beauport. 

Why  is  it  that  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  have  not  under- 
stood that  it  was  an  unpardonable  crime  and  eternal  shame 
to  them  to  have  allowed  that  great  temperance  work  to  drop 
since  I  left  theii  idols  to  follow  the  God  of  the  Gospel? 

In  the  year  1842  when  I  left  Beauport  it  was  my  unspeak- 
able joy  to  see  the  seven  taverns  had  disappeared  and  in  their 
places  seven  thriving  schoohhouses  were  filled  with  happy 
children. 

When  it  was  announced  to  me  by  the  Bishop  that  I  must 
leave  Beauport  for  the  parish  of  Kamouraska,  that  was  almost 
a  death  blow  to  me  and  to  my  people.  It  was  in  vain  that 
I  tried  to  show  the  Bishops  the  injustice  and  undesirable- 
ness  of  such  a  change.  Without  mercy  the  BishoiD  told  me, 
"  Though  Beauport  is  a  very  important  place,  Kamouraska 
is,  in  our  eyes,  still  more  imjiortant."  It  was  then  the  only 
summer  resort  of  the  people  of  Quebec  and  Montreal.  "  The 
old  curate  Varin  is  dying,  and  we  have  no  other  priest  to  take 


Before  the   Dawn  of  the  Saving   Light  37 

his  place  there.  It  is  the  parish  where  you  were  born,  and 
we  hope  you  will  make  no  resistance  when  we  ask  you  to 
leave  your  dear  Beauport  for  Kamouraska  without  any  delay, 
The  God  who  has  blessed  you  in  such  a  marvelous  way  in 
Beauport  will  bless  you  again  in  the  same  way  in  Kamou- 
raska, and  we  hope  that  the  triumph  of  the  grace  of  God  will 
be  as  great  as  it  has  been  in  Beauport." 

Let  those  of  my  readers  who  wish  to  know  the  interesting 
details  of  my  four  years  sojourn  in  Kamouraska,  read  it  in 
the  "  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome."  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  during  that  time,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  I  had  the 
joy  of  enrolling  under  the  banners  of  temperance  not  only  the 
grand  and  noble  parish  of  Kamouraska,  but  all  the  parishes 
for  more  than  one  hundred  miles  below.  Also  the  parishes 
around  Lake  Tamisconata  and  to  Point  Levis,  on  the  south 
shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  on  the  north  shore  from 
Quebec  to  Murray  Bay. 

The  year  before  I  went  to  Kamouraska  one  hundred  tuns 
of  rum  had  been  sold  by  the  merchants,  and  the  debts  of  the 
people  to  those  merchants  were  $250,000.  By  the  great 
mercy  of  God  the  last  year  I  was  there  not  ten  gallons  of  in- 
toxicating drinks  had  been  sold  in  the  whole  parish  and  the 
immense  debt  had  been  reduced  to  $150,000. 

At  first  I  had  been  fiercely  opposed  in  my  temperance 
work  by  Reverend  M.  Mailloux  of  St.  Anne  de  la  Pocati^re, 
and  Quertier  of  St.  Denis;  but  after  two  years  they  honourably 
changed  their  views  and  came  with  great  zeal  and  ability  to 
help  me  fight  the  common  foe.  But  I  could  not  stand  such 
herculean  work  any  longer.  To  fulfil  the  duties  of  curate 
at  Kamouraska  and  establish  the  societies  of  temperance 
was  too  much  for  a  single  man,  so,  in  1846,  I  said  to  the 
Bishop:  "I  think  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  I  should  fight  the 
demon  of  intemperance  all  over  the  country,  and  if  you  have 
no  objection,  as  the  Bishop  of  Montreal  has  invited  me  to 
establish  societies  of  temperance  in  the  parishes  of  his  im- 
mense diocese,  I  will  go  and  join   the   good   monks   of    the 


38  Forty   Years  in    the  Church  of  Christ 

Oblats  of  Mary  Immaculate.  There  are  not  less  than 
thirty  priests  there  who  will  lu'lp  me  in  my  temperance  work, 
and  instead  of  beinc:  alone  to  fight  our  giant  enemy — 
••  Rum"—  I  will  have  a  real  army  of  true  soldiers  of  Christ 
to  help  me." 

But,  before  leaving  Kamouraska,  I  had  received  a  letter 
from  a  very  dear  but  very  pcjor  friend  in  Quebec  who  was 
blessed  with  a  very  large  family.  His  letter  drew  my  tears: — 
"You  know  my  sad  position,"  he  said,  "overwhelmed  with  a 
family  which  is  absolutely  out  of  my  power  to  give  the  ma- 
terial as  well  as  intellectual  bread  to,  which  every  father  owes 
to  his  children.  I  have  been  impressed  with  a  thought  sev- 
eral months  You  have  studied  the  question  of  anatomy  and 
all  the  injuries  done  to  man  by  all  the  intoxicating  drinks. 
Your  success  in  fighting  the  demon  of  intemperance  is  mar- 
velous, it  seems  to  me  that  you  could  write  a  book  on  tem- 
perance which  would  be  welcomed  into  every  French  Cana- 
dian family.  That  book  would  bring  a  great  deal  of  money. 
I  have  said  to  myself,  "  If  dear  Father  Chiniquy  would  write 
that  book  and  give  me  the  benefit  of  the  first  two  editions,  it 
would  not  damage  him,  and  it  would  lift  me  up,  and  give  me 
the  means  to  provide  for  the  future  of  my  dear  children. 
Can  you  do  that,  M.  Chiniquy?  If  you  can,  there  will  be  a 
blessing  upon  you  for  time  and  eternity." 

I  had  never  thought  of  writing  a  book  on  that  subject,  but 
the  desire  to  save  that  family  which  was  very  dear  to  me  came 
as  a  flash  of  light.  I  went  on  my  knees,  and  I  said,  "  If  it  is 
Thy  will,  O  God,  that  I  should  write  a  good  book  on  temper- 
ance, I  promise  that  the  first  two  editions  shall  belong  to  that 
dear  friend  of  mine." 

Three  months  later  the  book  called  the  "Manual  of  Tem- 
perance" was  finished,  but  I  had  not  the  time  to  copy  the 
manuscript.  I  rolled  it  up  in  its  crudeness,  went  to  the  cap- 
tain of  a  schooner,  called  B^chard,  who  was  to  sail  the  very 
next  day  for  Quebec:  "Do  you  know  such  a  man  in  Quebec?" 
I  asked  him,  "  he  has  a  large  family,  but  is  as  poor  as  a  church 


Before  the   Dawn  of  the    Saving  Light  39 

rat."  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  when  in  Quebec,  please  go  and  give 
him  this  roll  of  paper,  with  this  small  letter,"  and  in  this 
small  letter  I  said,  "  My  dear  friend,  here  is  the  answer  to 
your  letter  of  four  months  ago.  I  have  worked  day  and  night 
to  write  the  book  you  asked  for.  Make  two  editions  of  it  for 
your  own  benefit.  Keep  every  cent  for  yourself  and  your  dear 
children,  and  when  those  two  editions  shall  be  exhausted, 
give  me  back  my  manuscript:  and  may  the  Lord  bless  and 
prosper  you  is  the  prayer  of  your  devoted  friend, 

C.  Chiniquy." 

A  week  later — this  was  in  the  fall — Captain  Bechard  was 
knocking  at  my  door.  I  could  hardly  recognize  him;  he 
looked  twenty  years  older  than  when  I  had  seen  him.  His 
voice  was  suffocated  in  his  sobs.  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  what  is 
the  matter,  my  dear  friend,  with  you?"  He  replied,  "Ah, 
dear  Father  Chiniquy,  I  have  lost  my  precious  schooner. 
She  was  wrecked  in  this  last  terrible  storm  on  the  rocks 
between  Berthier  and  St.  Valier.  It  is  by  a  miracle  that  I 
escaped  with  the  rest  of  the  crew.  I  have  been  picked  up 
unconscious  on  the  sand  where  I  had  been  hurled  by  a  furi- 
ous wave."  "And  the  little  bundle  of  paper  I  gave  you, 
where  is  it?"  "  It  is  lost,"  he  replied,  "  I  had  put  it  in  my 
trunk  which  is  now  at  the  bottom  of  the  river.  The  little 
money  which  I  had  gained  this  year,  and  was  taking  to  Que- 
bec to  pay  my  debts,  is  lost  also,  every  cent  of  it.  I  am 
ruined!  What  will  now  become  of  my  poor  family?"  I 
answered,  "  My  papers  cannot  be  lost,  and  for  yourself,  do 
not  despair  of  the  future." 

I  went  to  my  drawer,  took  some  old  papers,  put  them  into 
his  hands  and  said,  "  Here  are  twenty  five  pounds  to  help 
you  from  your  wreck,  and  I  pledge  myself  to  get  twice  that 
amount  from  my  rich  uncle  Dionne.  You  know  the  noble- 
hearted,  farmers  of  Kamouraska  will  also  help  you  to  get 
another  schooner.  Cheer  up!  Never  give  up  your  confi- 
dence in  God." 

We  knelt  and  prayed  and  we   wept   together.     And   then 


40  Forty    Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

apain  I  said,  "Where  do  you  think  I  can  find  your  little  trunk 
with  my  paper?"  "  It  cannot  be  found,"  he  said,  "it  was 
dashed  with  the  rest  on  the  rocks,  I  spent  four  days  to  find 
all  tliat  could  be  found  on  the  shores."  I  dismissed  him, 
went  to  my  servant  man  and  said,  "Hitch  up  the  horse  and 
buggy,  I  want  to  go  to  Quebec  without  a  moment  of  delay." 
The  roads  were  very  bad.  It  took  us  two  days  to  reach  the 
first  house  of  St.  Valier.  There  I  broke  one  of  the  wheels  of 
my  buggy  in  a  ditch.  I  went  to  the  next  house.  After  tak- 
ing some  refreshment  and  rest,  I  said  to  the  landlord,  "  Have 
you  heard  anything  of  the  wreck  of  B^chard's  schooner?" 
"  Ah,  yes,"  he  said,  "  it  has  been  a  complete  wreck.  It  was 
dashed  upon  the  rocks  and  torn  to  pieces."  "  Have  you  found 
anything  on  the  shore?"  I  asked.  "  Nothing  of  any  account, 
excejDt  this  morning  when  I  saw  a  little  trunk  entangled  in 
the  mud  and  branches  and  I  brought  it  here  and  gave  it  to  my 
wife."  "Can  I  see  that  little  trunk?"  I  said.  "Oh  yes 
sir."  It  was  there  in  a  corner  all  dripping  wet.  I  opened  it 
and  the  first  thing  I  saw  under  the  cover  was  my  manuscript. 
I  fell  on  my  knees  and  thanked  God  for  this  providential 
discovery.  Then  I  took  it  myself  to  my  friend  in  Quebec. 
Some  weeks  later  I  received  a  letter  from  Reverend  M.  Bal- 
largon,  curate  of  Quebec,  and  who  became,  later.  Archbishop, 
with  these  lines  which  I  copy,  word  for  word: 

"  Your  marvelous  little  book,  '  Manual  of  Temperance '  is 
just  published.  I  began  the  reading  of  it  before  going  to 
bed,  and  do  you  know  I  was  not  able  to  sleep  before  I  had 
finished  it.  I  went  yesterday  morning  to  my  Quebec  parish- 
ioners and  I  told  them,  'After  the  Gospel,  this  is  the  best 
book  you  can  read.  It  is  written  by  Father  Chiniquy,  and  I 
hope  in  a  few  days  I  shall  hear  there  is  a  copy  in  every  house 
in  Quebec  and  in  all  Canada.'  The  result  was  that  the  next 
three  days  three  thousand  copies  of  your  book  were  sold  at 
fifty  cents  each,  and  I  hope  that  ten  thousand  more  will  be 
sold,  so  that  the  whole  country  may  bless  you." 

My  friend,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  was  taken  out  of  his 


Before  the  Dawn  of  the  Saving   Light  41 

misery  to  a  position  of  ease,  and  being  intelligent  and 
industrious  pushed  himself  up  and  now  his  children  are  among 
the  first  families  of  Canada  for  their  wealth,  talents  and  re- 
spectability. Of  course  their  father  died  long  ago,  and  if  you 
ask  me  what  those  children  are  now  doing  to  show  their  gra- 
titude toward  me,  I  will  tell  you.  Ordered  by  their  priests, 
they  curse  me  because  I  believe  and  preach  that  there  is  only 
one  name  under  heaven  by  which  we  can  be  saved. 

So  I  went  to  Longueuil  in  1846  and  received  a  warm 
reception  both  from  the  Bishop  of  Montreal  and  the  Oblats 
there.  But,  after  a  year  of  novitiate,  I  saw  very  strange  things 
in  that  institution  which  proved  to  me  that  those  monks  were 
only  comedians.     I  will  give  here  only  one  instance. 

I  had  as  an  associate  to  advocate  the  temperance  cause  in 
St.  Hyacinthe  a  French  monk  by  the  name  of  Guignes.  He 
had  the  direction  of  the  first  part  of  the  service  and,  before 
beginning  his  address  on  the  evil  of  drinking  wine,  he  used 
to  say  to  the  faithful  in  a  most  pious  tone:  "Let  us  pray, 
dear  brethren,  the  Good  Mother  of  Christ  to  persuade  you  of 
the  evil  of  intemperance;"  and  as  all  the  people,  listening  to 
such  an  earnest  appeal,  threw  themselves  on  their  knees  with 
bowed  heads,  the  good  monk  took  out  from  his  garb  a  flask 
and  sipped  his  wine  with  great  relish  and  with  such  zest  that 
I  could  see  he  expected  more  inspiration  from  his  bottle  than 
from  Mary. 

I  cannot  help  mentioning  also  here  another  adventure  which 
proves  that  some  Canadian  priests,  as  well  as  some  French 
monks,  were  not  sincere  in  their  profession  of  temperance,  but 
were  dragged  into  that  great  movement  by  the  enthusiam  of 
the  people. 

When  speaking  in  the  same  town  six  months  later,  the  morn- 
ing after  the  first  address,  the  curate  of  the  parish,  Mr.  Crevier, 
came  to  me  at  breakfast  wringing  his  hands  with  un- , 
speakable  distress.  I  asked,  "  What  is  the  matter  with  you, 
Monsieur  le  Cur6?  "  He  replied,  "  Have  you  not  heard  the 
awful  noise  last  night  when  they  destroyed  my  distillery?" 


42  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

"What,"  said  I,  "have  you  a  distillery?"  "Yes,"  he  said. 
"And  you  invited  me  to  preach  temperance  when  you  have  a 
distillery  to  spread  drunkenness?"  "  Yes,  I  thought  it  was  a 
good  and  profitable  way  to  invest  money."  "  In  that  case," 
I  said,  "  I  rejoice  that  the  people  have  been  prompt  enough 
to  see  your  duplicity  and  punish  you  as  you  deserve."  I  must 
add  that  the  temporanco  people,  without  my  knowledge  as 
well  as  without  my  instigation,  had  invaded  the  distillery 
during  the  night  and  made  havoc  with  it,  breaking  all  the 
machinery. 

At  the  end  of  my  novitiate,  when  I  was  about  to  take  the 
vows  of  allegiance  to  the  Society,  being  asked,  according  to 
usage,  by  the  Superior  to  mention  before  all  my  confreres 
my  decision  as  to  joining  the  Oblats,  I  said,  "You  will  be 
disappointed,  as  I  have  been  myself.  After  having  been 
associated  with  you  in  the  hope  of  becoming  an  Oblate,  my 
conscience  tells  me  that  the  only  thing  I  have  to  do  i.i  to 
leave  you  and  do  my  providential  work  alone  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Bishop  and  the  co-operation  of  the  secular 
clergy." 

After  I  left  the  Oblats  I  carried  on  during  four  years 
the  crusade  of  temperance  with  wonderful  and  blessed 
results. 

In  the  year  1850  I  received  a  letter  from  Bishop  Vandeveld 
of  Chicago,  111.,  inviting  me  to  go  and  help  him  to  make  a  New 
France  of  Illinois  by  directing  the  tide  of  the  French  immi- 
gration towards  the  magnificent  plains  of  Illinois  which  were 
then  almost  entirely  a  wilderness.  Seeing  in  this  invitation 
a  call  of  Providence  to  fulfil  another  great  mission  for  my 
countrymen  and  my  Church  in  founding  a  colony,  after  having 
been  the  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  to  draw  my  country- 
men out  of  the  mire  of  drunkenness,  I  gladly  accepted  it,  and 
with  the  blessing  of  my  Bishop  and  his  reluctant  consent  I 
exiled  myself  to  the  neighbouring  great  Republic.  To  my  un- 
speakable joy  I  saw  myself  soon  surrounded  by  thousands  of 
French=speaking    people  who  had  responded  to  my  fervent 


Before  the   Dawn   of  the  Saving  Light  43 

appeals  published  both  in  Europe  and  Canada.  Soon  flourish- 
ing parishes  of  my  countrymen  gladdened  my  heart  and  re- 
warded my  labours  as  a  colonizer. 

But  my  new  calling  was  not  a  sky  without  a  cloud.  There 
also  I  had  my  tribulations  and  sad  revelations  about  my 
Church,  which  darkened  my  mind  and  weakened  my  faith  in 
it.  About  a  year  after  my  arrival,  Bishop  Vandeveld  came  to 
me  with  tears  in  his  eyes  and  announced  to  me  that  he  had 
decided  to  abandon  the  diocese  of  Illinois  for  the  one  of 
Natchez,  because,  said  he,  "  I  cannot  bear  any  longer  the  cor- 
ruption of  my  priests.  There  are  only  five  honest  priests  in 
this  diocese,  so  I  asked  the  Pope  as  a  favour  to  transfer  me  to 
another  place." 

Holding  in  great  respect  and  affection  this  Bishop,  I  felt 
very  keenly  his  departure,  and  had  I  known  who  was  to 
succeed  him,  I  would  have  felt  it  still  more  bitterly. 

His  successor  was  Bishop  O'Regan,  the  most  tyrannical  and 
shameless  rogue  that  I  ever  had  to  deal  with. 

After  several  years  of  contest  with  that  Bishop,  who  was  a 
notorious  defender  of  drunkenness  and  immorality  among  the 
priests  of  his  diocese,  and  who  was  guilty  of  simony,  theft  and 
brigandage  himself,  I  wrote  to  Pope  Pius  IX.,  enclosing 
documentary  evidence  of  the  Bishop's  guilt,  with  the  result 
that  after  a  full  investigation  the  corrupt  prelate  was 
deposed. 

Bishop  Smith  of  Dubuque,  Iowa,  the  new  administrator  of 
the  diocese,  deputed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dunn,  Grand  Vicar  of 
Chicago,  to  seek  an  interview  with  me,  and  thank  me  for 
having  rid  the  diocese  of  such  a  depraved  man,  but  at  the  same 
time  to  inform  me  that  I  and  my  people  were  suspected  of 
being  more  Protestants  than  Catholics,  and  to  urge  me  to  draw 
up  a  document  which  would  prove  to  all  the  world  that  I  and 
they  were  still  good  Roman  Catholics. 

As  I  was  considering  what  form  this  document  should  take, 
the  thought  seized  me,  "  Is  not  this  the  golden  opportunity  to 
put  an  end  to  the  terrible  temptations  which  have  shaken  my 


44  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

faith  and  distressed  me  for  so  many  years?"  I  determined  to 
frame  my  submission  in  such  a  way  that  I  mif^ht  make  sure 
that  the  faith  of  my  dear  Church  was  based  upon  the  Holy 
Word  of  God  and  not  the  lying  traditions  of  men. 

I  then  wrote  down,  "My  Lord  Bishop  Smith,— We  French 
Canadians  of  Illinois  want  to  live  and  die  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Apostolic  and  Roman  Church,  out  of  which  there  is 
no  salvation,  and  to  prove  this  to  your  lordship,  we  promise 
to  obey  the  authority  of  the  Church  according  to  the  Word 
and  Commandments  of  God  as  we  find  them  expressed  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ." 

The  Grand  Vicar  thought  that  the  act  of  submission  was  just 
what  was  wanted,  but  I  had  my  grave  doubts  whether  the  con- 
dition of  only  submitting  to  the  Bishop's  authority  according 
to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  Gospel  of  Christ  would  ever  be 
accepted.  My  surprise  was  therefore  great  when  Bishop 
Smith,  having  read  the  document,  received  it  with  joy,  and 
gave  me  in  return,  to  show  to  both  friends  and  foes,  a  testi- 
monial letter  which  contained  the  highest  expressions  of 
esteem  for  me  both  in  public  and  private  character. 

But  the  Jesuits  of  Chicago  were  soon  at  work,  and  raised 
a  great  storm,  saying  that  I  was  no  more  than  a  disguised 
Protestant,  and  that  I  must  be  compelled  to  submit  to  the 
unconditional  authority  of  the  Bishops. 

I  was  again  sent  for  by  the  Bishop,  who,  as  a  prelude  to  the 
conversation  asked  me  for  the  testimonial  letter,  which  when 
produced  and  handed  over,  was  arbitrarily  committed  to  the 
flames  without  one  word  of  explanation.  "  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  he 
said,  "  I  ordered  you  here  because  you  have  deceived  me  in 
t'iving  me  a  document  which  you  know  is  not  an  act  of  sub- 
mission; I  hope  as  a  good  priest  you  do  not  want  to  rebel 
against  your  Bishop.  Take  away  the  words — Word  of  God 
—and— Gospel  of  Christ— from  your  act  of  submission,  or  I 
will  punish  you  as  a  rebel."  To  this  I  calmly  replied,  "  What 
you  ask  me  is  not  an  act  of  submission,  it  is  an  act  of  adora- 
tion.    I  do  absolutely  refuse  to  give  it."     "  If  that  be  so,  sir," 


Before  the  Dawn  of  the  Saving  Light  45 

said  the  Bishop,  "  you  can  be  no  longer  a  Catholic  priest." 

I  raised  my  hands  to  heaven  and  cried:  "  May  God  Almighty 
be  forever  blessed,"  and  I  left  the  room. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  the  ways  through  which  God,  in  His 
mercy,  called  me  to  pass,  in  order  that  I  might  come  to  the 
full  light  of  His  glorious  truth. 

So  far,  I  have  spoken  almost  exclusively  of  the  external 
warfare  I  had  to  wage  against  the  representatives  of  Rome 
before  I  could  come  to  the  spring  whence  flows  the  pure 
water  after  which  my  soul  was  panting. 

But  the  most  terrible  struggles  I  had  to  sustain  were 
within,  in  my  poor  heart,  bruised  by  the  great  conflict  of 
moral  and  spiritual  forces,  whose  issue  is  always  victory  of 
truth  or  error,  of  God  or  the  devil. 

I  will  take  my  readers  in  my  next  chapter  to  this  invisible 
battle=field,  and  I  will  relate  to  them  what  God  has  done  for 
my  soul. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Light  Breaks  upon  Me.  After  Much  Struggle  I  Accept  Christ  and 
Eternal  Life  as  a  Gift.  I  Present  the  Gift  to  My  People  Who  Likewise 
Accept  It. 

I  remained  twenty^five  years  in  the  Church  of  Rome  as  one 
of  her  most  devoted  priests. 

During  that  whole  time  I  sincerely  believed  that  the  Church 
of  Rome  was  the  only  Church  of  Christ,  and  I  did  all  in  my 
power  to  extend  the  authority  of  that  Church  in  America  and 
other  continents. 

But  when  in  that  Church  I  had  to  believe  and  preach,  with 
all  the  priests,  that  out  of  the  Church  of  Rome  there  was  no 
salvation;  and  my  heart  was  very  sad  when,  looking  upon  you, 
Protestants,  I  had  to  believe  that  you  were  all  to  perish  and 
go  to  hell  after  death. 

I  thought  that  my  duty  was  to  convert  as  many  Protestants 
as  I  could  and  bring  them  into  submission  to  the  Pope.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  the  best  way  to  persuade  the  Protestants 
to  become  Roman  Catholics  was  to  study  the  Bible  as  well  as 
I  could,  and  challenge  your  Protestant  ministers  to  a  public 
discussion  in  order  to  prove  to  you  that  your  ministers  do 
not  know  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  that  they  were  deceitful 
and  ignorant  men,  and  that  you  ought  not  to  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  their  teachings,  but  that  you  should  come  to  hear  the 
priests  of  Rome  and  accept  their  doctrines. 

With  that  thought  in  my  mind  I  studied  the  Holy  Bible 
more  than  the  priests  of  Rome  are  accustomed  to  do. 

Many  times  I  spent,  not  only  the  whole  day,  but  the  night, 
in  studying  the  pages  of  the  Holy  Book,  in  order  that  I 
might  be  able  to  show  to  the  Protestants  that  they  w^ere 
deceived  by  their  ministers,  and  that  their  duty  was  to  sub- 

46 


The  Breaking  In  of  the  Light  47 

mit  themselves  to  the  Pope  of  Rome,  if  they  wanted  to  be 
saved 

I  had  a  great  love  and  respect  for  the  Holy  Scriptures.  I 
never  opened  the  Holy  Book  without  addressing  a  fervent 
prayer  to  God  to  guide  me  in  my  study  in  such  a  way  that  I 
might  be  more  and  more  every  day  a  good,  a  faithful  and 
a  holy  priest  of  Rome. 

But,  strange  to  say,  I  never  read  the  Holy  Book  without 
hearing  a  secret  and  mysterious  voice,  in  the  bottom  of  my 
soul,  troubling  my  faith,  and  telling  me:  "Do  you  not  see 
that,  in  your  Church  of  Rome,  you  do  not  follow  the  Word 
of  God — but  you  follow  and  teach  the  lying  traditions  of 
men!" 

That  mysterious  voice  was  telling  me,  "Are  you  not  ashamed 
to  invoke  so  many  names  of  saints  and  angels  when  your 
Gospel  tells  you  so  clearly  that  there  is  only  one  name  which 
must  be  invoked  to  be  saved? 

"Are  you  not  ashamed  to  say  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  your 
Breviarium,  'Thou  art  the  only  hope  of  sinners,'  when  the 
Gospel  tells  you  that '  Jesus  is  the  only  hope — the  only  Sav- 
iour of  the  World?'" 

One  day  that  mysterious  voice  spoke  to  me  as  the  voice  of 
thunder,  after  I  had  said  to  my  people  that,  after  their  death, 
their  souls  were  to  go  and  spend  many  years  in  the  flames  of 
purgatory  to  be  purified  from  their  sins. 

"Shame  upon  you,"  said  the  voice,  "to  speak  of  a  purgatory 
of  which  there  is  not  a  word  in  your  Gospel ! " 

"  Do  you  not  read,"  said  the  voice,  "  that  it  is  only  through 
the  blood  of  Jesus  that  the  souls  of  men  can  be  purified? 

" Come  out!  Come  out  from  such  a  church,  where  you  preach 
doctrines  absolutely  opposed  to  the  teachings  of  the  Holy 
Gospel!" 

These 'Voices  were  evidently  the  voice  of  my  God!  But  I 
had  to  take  them  for  the  voice  of  the  devil,  for  the  Pope  was 
telling  me  it  was  the  devil's  voice. 

When    studying    the    theological    books    written   by   St. 


48  Forty    Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

Lif^aiori,  St.  Thomas,  and  all  the  other  theologians,  I  had 
to  believe  that  my  Church  of  Rome  had  received  from  Christ 
the  right  to  burn,  imprison  and  kill  all  the  heretics  and  the 
Protestants  when  she  was  strong  enough  to  do  so.  But  my 
Gospel  was  telling  me  with  a  thundering  power  that  this  was 
the  devirs  doctrine,  opposed  to  the  Gospel.  For  Christ  had 
rebuked  His  disciples  when  they  wanted  to  bring  fire  horn 
heaven  to  punish  those  who  refused  to  allow  Him  to  go  into 
their  town. 

So  there  was,  many  times,  a  great  trouble  in  my  soul.  For 
those  two  voices  were  heard;  and,  to  please  the  Pope  and 
remain  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  had  constantly  to  take  the 
voice  of  God  for  that  of  the  devil,  and  1  had  to  accept  the 
voice  of  the  devil  for  the  voice  of  my  God 

Thus  it  was  that,  during  twenty  five  years,  my  God  with 
His  merciful  hand  was  trying  to  take  me  away  from  a  false 
system  of  religion.  But  to  obey  the  Pope  I  had  to  resist— I 
had  to  struggle  against  my  God. 

But  in  that  long  struggle,  my  God  was  to  be  the  stronger 
—and  the  blessed  day  had  come  when  my  merciful  Saviour 
was  to  come  to  me  as  a  conqueror,  with  His  mighty 
power. 

That  blessed  day,  I  was  alone  m  my  little  study  room, 
reading  my  Bible,  when  the  voice  of  my  God  spoke  with  such 
power  that  I  could  not  be  mistaken. 

"Come  out!  Come  out  from  the  Church  of  Rome!"  said 
that  thundering  voice,  ''You  cannot  be  saved  in  that  church 
where  you  make  your  own  god  every  morning,  with  a  piece 
of  dough !  No  man  can  make  his  god  with  his  own  hands.  Did 
not  Paul  say  to  the  Athenians  that  God  could  not  be  made 
with  gold  and  silver,  or  marble?  He  cannot  more  be  made 
with  a  piece  of  dough!  Come  out!  Come  out  from  the 
Church  of  Rome!" 

Falling  on  my  knees  with  burning  tears  rolling  down  my 
cheeks,  I  was  crying  to  my  God:  "  O  my  God,  if  the  Church 


The  Breaking  In  of  the  Light  49 

of  Rome  is  not  Thy  Church,  where  is  Thy  Church?  Where 
can  I  go  to  be  saved?  Is  it  possible,  O  my  God,  that  the 
Church  of  Rome,  so  grand,  so  old!  the  Church  of  so  many 
mighty  nations!  the  Church  of  my  mother!  the  Church  of  my 
dear  country!  the  Church  which  has  been  so  good  to  me,  so 
high  in  the  eyes  of  my  fellow  men,  is  not  Thy  Church! 

"I  beseech  Thee,  O  my  God,  give  me  some  more  rays  of 
Thy  light,  that  I  may  see  where  is  Thy  Church,  and  that  I 
may  accept  it! " 

But  for  more  than  one  hour  I  prayed  in  vain  for  light! 

Instead  of  light  my  God  was  wrapping  my  trembling  soul 
with  the  darkest  clouds. 

But  after  more  than  an  hour  of  the  most  unspeakable 
desolation  I  felt  that  my  God  had  heard  my  humble  sup- 
plications. 

Suddenly  before  the  eyes  of  my  soul  there  was  something 
very  strange,  but  marvelously  amazing. 

It  was  a  light!  And  in  the  very  midst  of  that  light,  my 
Saviour  was  nailed  to  the  cross! 

Oh  I  could  not  be  mistaken!  It  was  my  beloved  Saviour 
which  was  there!  The  crown  of  thorns  was  on  His  bleeding 
brow — His  hands  were  nailed  to  the  cross — and  His  body  was 
covered  with  bleeding  wounds! 

And  He  was  coming  to  me!  .  .  ,  When  very  near  I 
heard  His  sweet  voice  telling  me: 

"My  dear  friend,  I  have  heard  thy  cries — I  have  seen 
thy  tears,  I  come  to  bring  thee  eternal  life  as  a  gift. 

"My  Father  has  so  much  loved  thee,  that  He  has  sent  Me, 
His  eternal  Son  Jesus,  to  save  thee  by  dying  on  the  cross! 

"On  that  cross  I  have  paid  thy  debts  to  My  eternal  Father's 
justice,  and  I  have  paid  them  to  the  last  cent! 

"On  that  cross  I  have  asked  and  obtained  thy  pardon!  On 
that  cross  I  have  bought  for  thee  an  eternal  life  which  I  bring 
thee,  just  now,  as  a  gift  of  My  eternal  love!  Look  up  and  see 
the  crown  of  glory  I  have  brought  for  thee." 


5©  Forty  Years   in  the  Church  of  Christ 

And  when  my  dear  Saviour  was  speaking  to  me  these  mar- 
velous words,  He  was  giving  me  grace  to  understand  them  as 
much  as  a  man  can  do. 

I  looked  up  and  I  saw,  what  I  hope  every  one  of  my  readers 
will  see  just  now,  if  you  look  up  with  the  eyes  of  your  soul. 
For  the  crown  was  not  only  for  me,  it  was  for  everyone  of  you 
also. 

Yes,  I  looked  up,  and  I  saw^  with  the  eyes  of  my  soul,  a 
crown!     But  what  a  rich,  what  a  precious  crown! 

And  on  that  crown  I  saw  my  name  written  with  the  blood 
of  the  Lamb! 

And  my  l)eloved  Saviour  was  telling  me,  "I  present  thee 
that  crown  as  a  gift  of  My  love;  .  .  .  take  it.  .  .  . 
The  only  thing  I  want  from  thee  is  thy  faith,  thy  repentance* 
thy  love!" 

My  Saviour  said  again,  "  Look  up." 

And  I  looked  up  again,  and  I  saw  what  every  one  of  you 
will  see,  if,  with  the  eyes  of  your  soul,  you  look  up  to  Christ. 
I  saw  a  throne!  But  what  a  glorious  throne!  No!  Never 
any  mortal  king  or  emperor  has  sat  on  such  a  glorious 
throne ! 

And  my  name  was  written  on  that  throne  with  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb!  And  my  beloved  Saviour  was  telling  me:  "I  pre- 
sent thee  that  throne  as  a  gift  of  My  love.  I  have  shed  My 
blood  to  the  last  drop.  I  died  the  most  horrible  death  to  buy 
that  throne;     .     .     .     take  it. 

"  The  only  thing  I  want  from  you  is  that  you  believe  in  My 
love — repent  and  love  Me!" 

It  was  then,  that  more  with  my  tears  of  joy  than  with  my 
lips,  I  said  to  my  beloved  Saviour: 

"  Oh,  dear  Jesus — Precious  Gift — how  sweet  Thy  words  are 
to  my  heart.  Yes,  I  will  love  Thee  to-day,  to-morrow  and 
forever.  .  .  .  Oh!  Precious  Gift!  Beloved  Jesus!  Come 
and  abide  in  my  heart  to  make  it  pure.  Abide  in  my  soul  to 
fill  it  with  Thy  love.     Oh!  Precious  Gift!     Dear  Jesus,  abide 


The  Breaking  In  of  the   Light  51 

in  me  to=day,  to-morrow  and  forever,  that  I  may  be  one 
with  Thee  the  few  days  I  remain  in  the  land  of  pilgrimage." 

To  make  a  long  story  short,  I  must  tell  you,  my  dear  readers, 
that  I  opened,  for  the  first  time,  the  hands  of  my  soul,  and 
that  I  took  possession  of  the  gift — the  precious  gift,  the 
immortal  gift,  which  our  eternal  God  had  sent  to  me! 

It  is  then  that,  for  the  first  time,  I  understood  that  great 
mystery  of  the  love  of  God,  which  the  Pope  ignores,  and 
which  is  so  sadly  concealed  from  the  eyes  of  the  honest  but 
so  cruelly  deceived  Roman  Catholics,  that  eternal  life  is  a 
gift.     .     .     . 

No  human  words  can  tell  you  the  joy  of  my  heart  when, 
for  the  first  time,  I  opened  the  hands  of  my  soul  and  accepted 
the  gift,  the  great  gift,  the  immortal  gift. 

It  was  then  that,  pressing  that  new  Gospel  to  my  heart, 
and  bathing  it  with  the  tears  of  my  joy,  I  swore  that  I  would 
never  preach  anything  but  that  Gospel,  in  which  I  had  just 
found  that  eternal  life  is  a  gift. 

It  was  then  that  I  said  to  my  dear  Saviour,  "  By  offering 
me  eternal  life  as  a  gift,  Thou  hast  forever  taken  away  from 
my  shoulders  the  heavy  yoke  of  the  Pope.  Thou  hast  saved 
me.  But  I  do  not  want  to  be  saved  alone!  Save  my  people. 
Grant  me  ever  more  to  show  them  that  eternal  life  is  a 
gift  of  Thy  love;  .  .  .  grant  me  to  help  them  also  to  break 
the  heavy  and  unbearable  yoke  of  the  Pope. 

"Oh,  that  my  dear  people  may  know,  to-morrow,  that  Jesus 
lias  saved  them!  That  Jesus  has  paid  their  debts,  that 
Jesus  has  bought  for  them  an  eternal  life,  on  the  cross — and 
that  He  wants  nothing  from  them  but  to  repent,  believe  and 
love!" 

This  marvelous  revelation  was  given  to  me  on  a  Saturday 
afternoon.     I  spent  a  sleepless  night. 

I  was  too  happy  to  shut  my  eyes  and  sleep.  When  a  man 
has  just  received  such  a  gift,  how  can  he  forget  it  and 
sleep? 


52  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

Many  times  durini?  that  happy  night,  with  tears  of  joy,  I 
said  with  David:  "  Oil,  my  soul,  bless  the  Lord!  and  let  all 
that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name." 

The  next  day  was  the  Lord's  day — the  weather  was  splen- 
did— and  I  had  never  seen  so  many  people  in  my  large 
church  as  on  that  day. 

Addressing  them  I  said  in  substance: 

"French  Canadians: — The  very  night  before  our  adorable 
Saviour  was  to  die.  He  said  to  His  apostles  '  I  will  offend 
you  this  night!' 

"Now  I  just  tell  you  the  same  thing.  I  will  offend  you  to* 
day.  But  as  the  offense  which  Christ  gave  to  His  apostles 
has  saved  the  world,  I  hope  that,  by  His  mercy,  the  offense 
which  I  shall  give  you  to=day  shall  save  you. 

"  I  was  a  priest  of  Rome  till  yesterday — and  I  was  your 
pastor — but,  yesterday,  at  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
a  new  light  came  to  me,  and  there  was  an  irresistible  force  in 
that  light! 

"  Through  that  light  I  have  seen  clearly  that  the  Pope  and 
the  Church  of  Rome  are  the  two  greatest  enemies  of  Christ 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Through  that  fraud  I  have  been 
deceived,  and  I  have  deceived  you.  But  by  the  help  of  God, 
yesterday,  I  have  given  up  the  Pope  and  the  Church  of 
Rome,  and  I  am  no  more  your  pastor!" 

The  last  words  had  hardly  gone  from  my  lips,  when  a  cry 
of  desolation  went  out  from  every  heart.  "  Dear  Father 
Chiniquy!  Is  it  possible  that  you  have  left  our  holy 
Church?" 

I  answered  them,  "Dear  countrymen,  I  do  not  come  here 
to  tell  you  to  do  the  same  thing.  Do  not  trouble  yo\n'selves 
about  me,  in  this  solemn  hour  do  not  look  to  me,  but  look  to 
Christ  alone." 

"  T  did  not  die  on  Calvary  to  save  you,  I  did  not  shed  my 
blood  to  cleanse  your  souls  and  buy  a  crown  of  glory  for 
every  one  of  you.  But  Christ  has  done  it — look  to  Him  and 
Him  alone  in  this  solemn  day! 


The   Breaking  In  of  the   Light  ^2 

"Will  you  allow  me  to  tell  you  why  I  left  the  Church  of 
Rome,  yesterday?" 

They  all  answered,  "By  all  means  tell  us  that!" 

There  was  then  in  the  front  pew,  a  most  beautiful  child 
about  six  months  old,  in  the  arms  of  its  happy  mother.  I 
said  to  the  people: 

"Look  at  this  beautiful  child.  See  his  bright  eyes,  his 
rosy  cheeks,  his  smiling  lips!  See  how  he  is  stretching  his 
little  arms  around  the  neck  of  his  happy  mother,  to  give  her 
one  of  his  angelic  kisses. 

"Surely  there  is  life  in  that  child! 

"  But  what  has  he  done  to  get  that  life?  Has  he  moved  a 
straw  to  get  it?  Has  the  Pope  of  Rome  done  anything  to 
give  that  life  to  this  child?  No!  that  life  is  a  gift  of  God. 
The  child  has  done  absolutely  nothing  to  get  it.  It  is  a  gift 
of  God.  The  Pope  of  Rome  has  had  nothing  to  do  with  that 
life. 

"  But  if  the  child  could  speak  and  say  to  his  mother:  'Dear 
mother,  how  happy  I  feel  in  your  arms,  how  kind  and  loving 
a  mother  thou  art  to  me.  From  morning  to  night  thou  art 
busy  with  me.  It  is  from  thy  breast  that,  many  times  a  day, 
I  get  the  life  which  is  in  me.  What  can  I  do,  dear  mother, 
to  show  you  my  gratitude?  What  do  you  want  from  me  for 
that  life  which  is  in  me  from  thee?'  What  would  the  mother 
answer? 

"She  would  answer:  'Dear  child,  I  want  nothing,  but  a 
kiss  from  thy  angelic  lips.  Press  your  dear  little  heart  on 
mine,  that  I  may  feel  by  its  pulses  that  you  love  me  as  much 
as  I  love  thee.' 

"Mothers,  who  are  here:  Is  it  not  the  only  thing  you  would 
ask  from  your  dear  child?  " 

They  all  answered,  "  Yes,  sir." 

Then  I  said:  "  Come  with  me  to  the  feet  of  your  dying 
Saviour,  on  the  cross.  .  .  .  Look  at  His  crown  of  thorns. 
.  .  .  See  the  nails  in  His  hands  and  his  feet — count  if 
you  can   the  bleeding    wounds — hear   the   agonizing    cry, 


54  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

'Father,  Father,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  Me?'  See  the 
horrible  death!  And  then  ask  your  Saviour:  'Why  that 
crown  of  thorns  on  Thy  head?  Why  those  nails  in  Thy 
hands  and  feet?  Why  those  bleeding  wounds?  Why  that 
horrible  death  on  the  cross?'  And  He  will  answer,  '  To  buy 
you  an  eternal  life! ' 

"  But  ask  Him  again,  '  What  do  you  want  from  me  for  that 
eternal  life  which  you  buy  at  such  a  price?' 

"And  He  will  answer:  '  I  want  nothing  but  your  hearts 
and  your  love!     That  eternal  life  is  a  gift  I  offer  you.' 

"Now,  if  you  go  to  the  Pope  and  his  priests  and  ask  them: 
'What  must  we  do  to  be  saved?'  They  will  tell  you -you 
must  go  and  confess  your  sins  to  a  priest,  very  often  more 
guilty  than  yourself;  you  must  abstain  from  eating  meat  all 
Fridays  and  Saturdays,  and  many  other  days  of  the  year; 
you  must  gain  or  buy  indulgences;  pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
to  the  saints,  to  the  angels;  .  .  .  you  must  go  into  the 
flames  of  purgatory  or  give  a  great  deal  of  money  to  get  out 
of  them.' 

"  But  all  those  things  are  deceitful  human  inventions. 

"For  what  did  our  dear  Saviour  answer  to  the  young  man 
who  asked  him  what  he  had  to  do  to  have  eternal  life?  Did 
He  speak  of  Auricular  Confession  in  His  answer?  Did  He 
speak  of  abstaining  from  meat,  of  indulgences,  of  purgatory? 

"  No!  He  left  those  inventions  and  deceptions  to  the  Pope. 
Our  Saviour  answered,  that  day,  what  He  answers  you,  to-day, 
in  His  Gospel.  For  He  has  not  changed  His  religion  or  His 
doctrine.  He  answered,  'To  be  saved,  my  young  friend, 
you  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  love  My  Father,  who  has  so 
much  loved  you  that  He  has  sent  Me,  His  eternal  Son  Jesus, 
to  save  you.  Love  your  neighbour.  Repent,  believe  in  Me; 
invoke  My  name,  and  you  are  saved;  eternal  life  is  a  gift.' " 

For  more  than  one  hour  I  spoke  of  the  gift.  I  showed  its 
greatness,  its  value,  its  beauty. 

I  soon  saw  that  I  was  not  alone  speaking  of  the  gift.  My 
beloved  Saviour  was  with  me  in  His  spirit.     For  my  people 


The   Breaking  In  of  the   Light  55 

were  beside  themselves  with  admiration  and  joy  when  hear- 
ing, for  the  first  time,  of  that  marvelous  gift. 

And  when  I  asked  them:  "Who  will  give  up  the  Pope  to 
follow  Christ,  among  you?  Who  will  give  up  the  debasing 
and  so  costly  religion  of  the  Pope  to  accept  the  religion  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  who  offers  you  eternal  life  as  a   gift?" 

Without  a  single  exception  they  were  all  on  their  feet. 

The  heavy,  unbearable  yoke  of  the  Pope  was  forever 
broken  and  rejected. 


CHAPTER  III, 

My  dear  Bible  Continues  to  lift  Me  up  above  tlie  Dark  Atmosphere  of  Ro- 
manism.    The  First  Publication  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  Canada. 

The  Christian  render  of  this  humble  volume  will  never 
understand  the  mercies  of  God  towards  its  author  if  he  does 
not  remember  that  from  infancy,  through  a  miraculous 
providence,  I  was  raised  in  the  respect  and  love  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures. 

It  is  only  by  reading  my  first  volume,  "  Fifty  Years  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,"  that  they  will  appreciate  that  fact,  and 
that  they  will  help  me  to  praise  the  Lord  for  His  infinite 
mercies. 

When  a  priest  of  Rome,  I  never  could  reconcile  myself 
with  the  restrictions  put  by  the  Popes  and  the  councils  on 
the  reading  of  the  Divine  Messages  of  God  to  man  through 
the  Holy  Bible,  and  I  availed  myself  of  the  first  opportunity 
I  had  to  express  my  mind  publicly  on  that  subject. 

For  time  and  eternity  I  will  bless  my  God  for  having 
graiitt'd  me  the  favour  of  persuading  the  Bishops  of  Quebec 
to  publish  an  edition  of  the  Holy  Gospels  for  the  use  of  our 
countrymen. 

In  my  daily  conversations  with  the  priests,  I  had  brought 
many  of  them  to  my  views  by  showing  them  that  the  very 
barriers  put  between  the  people  and  the  Holy  Scriptures 
would  give  to  the  Divine  Book  the  irresistible  attractions  of 
a  forhiddi'U  fruit,  and  that,  sooner  or  later,  our  countrymen 
would  ask  and  receive  from  the  Protestant  Colporteurs  those 
very  liibleK  which  we  were  refusing  them. 

During  the  four  years  stay  in  the  city  of  Quebec,  before 
my  being  appointed  curate  of  Beauport,  I  had  golden  oppor- 
tunities of  being  acquainted  with  all  the  priests  of  the  dio- 

6G 


First  Publication  ot  the  Scriptures  in   Canada     57 

cese,  and  those  opportunities  had  been  multiplied,  when 
curate  of  Beauport,  by  my  going  to  almost  every  parish  to 
establish  the  societies  of  temperance. 

As  I  was  constantly  gaining  the  minds  of  the  priests  to 
those  views,  my  hope  was  increasing  every  day,  that  the  hour 
was  approaching  fast  when  we  would  pull  down  the  granite 
walls  which  past  ages  had  put  between  our  people  and  the 
inspired  Book.  That  blessed  opportunity  was  to  come  sooner 
than  I  expected. 

The  French  Revolution  of  1830,  which  ruined  Charles  X., 
had  forced  his  cousin,  Archbishop  Forbin  Janson,  one  of  his 
principal  ministers,  to  leave  France  and  come  to  Canada.  I 
felt  at  once  that,  if  I  could  enlist  his  influence  in  favour  of  my 
schemes  of  temperance  and  of  the  diffusion  of  the  Gospel 
among  our  people,  1  would  more  easily  remove  the  obstacles 
which  were  before  us  for  this  triumph.  Having  completely, 
though  secretly,  at  first,  persuaded  him  to  help  me  to  fight 
the  demon  of  intemperance,  I  opened  to  him  my  mind  about 
the  desire  I  had  to  see  the  Gospel  of  Christ  read  in  every 
family  of  our  dear  Canada. 

He  answered  me:  "  This  is  a  very  delicate  question;  I  can- 
not take  upon  myself  to  initiate  it,  or  to  urge  it  upon  the 
minds  of  the  venerable  Bishops  who  rule  the  Church  of 
Canada,  but  if  I  am  consulted  by  them  on  that  matter,  I  will 
not  conceal  my  mind.  In  my  diocese  of  Nancy  where  our 
Catholics  are  mixed,  as  yours  are  here,  with  Protestants,  we 
have  found  it  impossible  to  prevent  them  from  having  access 
to  the  Bible.  We  have  allowed  them  the  Catholic  versions, 
but  with  the  Commentaries  approved  by  the  Church." 

In  the  year  1841,  after  having  blessed  the  column  of  tem- 
perance which  I  had  erected  at  Beauport  as  a  public  memo- 
rial of  the  marvelous  change  wrought  by  that  society  among 
my  people,  that  remarkable  Bishop  was  asked  to  preach  a 
retreat  (a  revival)  to  the  priests  of  the  diocese  of  Quebec. 

Nearly  150  attended  the  exercises  of  those  religious  meet- 
ings in  the  Seminary  of  Quebec. 


58  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

This  offerttl  the  polden  opportunity  for  which  I  was 
lookint;:  since  the  day  I  was  ordained  a  prirst.  The  very 
first  day  of  that  retreat  I  wrote  a  short  and  respectful  address 
to  the  Bishop,  to  which  I  had  secured  the  si^juatures  of  all 
the  youn^  priests  to  the  number  of  nearly  one  hundred. 

In  that  petition  we  were  simply  asking  our  ecclesiastical 
superiors  if  the  time  had  not  come  when  we  could  safely  put 
the  Holy  Gospels,  with  the  best  commentaries,  approved  of 
by  the  Church,  into  the  hands  of  our  people. 

Though  at  first  the  Bishop  seemed  to  be  taken  by  surprise, 
and  a  little  embarrassed,  he  received  us  kindly,  but  with  the 
condition  that  this  grave  subject  should  be  discussed  in  one 
of  our  public  meetings,  and  that  every  one  of  his  priests 
should  be  allowed  to  give  his  own  views  thereon. 

It  was  just  what  we  wanted.    As  I  had  been  selected  to 
write  the  petition  I  was  also  selected  to  open  the  debate, 
which  I  did  in  the  following  words,  which  I  have  kept,  and 
which  I  give  here: — 
•  My  Lord, — Venerable  Brethren: 

"After  the  sending  of  His  eternal  Son,  Jesus,  to  save 
us  by  dying  on  the  cross,  our  great  and  merciful  God  has 
never  presented  to  the  poor  sinful  children  of  Adam  greater 
proof  of  His  Divine  love  and  mercy  than  by  giving  them  His 
Gospel. 

"  But  as  Jesus  Christ  was  to  be  the  Saviour  of  every  one 
who  would  accept  Him,  so  the  Gospel  was  to  be  the  light — 
the  guide — the  bread  of  life  of  every  one  who  would  ac- 
cept it. 

"  As  every  man  has  a  divine  right  to  go  to  Christ  personally, 
and  as  that  right  cannot  be  taken  away  by  any  church  au- 
thority, so  every  man  has  the  divine  right  to  hear  or 
to  read  the  Word  of  God,  when  it  is  presented  or  spoken  to 
him. 

"  As  it  was  a  crime  on  the  part  of  the  priests  of  Jerusalem 
to  prevent  the  people  from  receiving  Him,  so  I  consider  it 
would  be  a  crime  for  me  and  for  every  one  of  us  to  prevent 


First  Publication  of  the  Scriptures  in   Canada     59 

our  people  from  reading  the  Word  of  God — the  Gospel  of 
Christ — when  they  wish  to  have  that  privilege." 

I  had  hardly  finished  that  sentence,  when  I  was  furiously 
interrupted  by  several  old  priests,  who  were  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Bishop.  "This  is  Protestantism;  this  is  the 
doctrine  of  Luther  and  Calvin!  "  they  all  cried  at  the  tip  top 
of  their  voices.  I  asked  the  protection  of  the  chair  (the 
Bishop)  against  these  interruptions  and  insults. 

"  Let  my  venerable  opponents  allow  me  to  finish  my  short 
address,  I  said,  and  they  will  see  that  I  am  neither  a  Prot- 
estant nor  a  Luther.  This  interruption  at  the  beginning  of 
my  address  was  as  unfair  as  it  is  unchristian.  If  I  say 
anything  wrong,  the  venerable  fathers  who  have  interrupted 
me  will  have  the  opportunity  of  showing  my  errors.  But  is 
it  not  a  sure  indication  that  they  find  their  position  illogical, 
unchristian,  when  they  show  such  a  fear  lest  we  discuss  it?" 

Then  the  Grand  Vicar  Demers  (who  had  several  times 
been  the  Superior  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec),  advancing 
two  or  three  steps  towards  me,  and  pointing  his  finger  to  my 
face,  answered  with  a  furious  voice:  "Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  are 
a  heretic,  and  a  new  Luther.  You  trample  under  your  feet 
the  decrees  of  the  Holy  Council  of  Trent.  That  Holy  Coun- 
cil absolutely  forbids  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  the 
vernacular  tongue  of  the  people,  and  you  want  us  to  help 
you  in  that  heretical  work!  And  you  are  so  daring  as  to 
promulgate  such  a  doctrine  in  our  presence  without  allowing 
us  to  protest  against  your  errors!" 

"  My  Lord,"  I  said,  "  Please  allow  me  to  answer  at  once  the 
venerable  Superior  of  the  Seminary  of  Quebec: 

"  I  know  very  well  that  the  Holy  Council  of  Trent  has  put 
strange  and  deplorable  restrictions  on  the  reading  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  not  only  by  the  people,  but  by  the  priests  also. 
However,  I  am  not  here  to  condemn  the  ecumenical  council 
or  to  invite  you  to  revolt  against  its  authority,  as  I  am  ac- 
cused, but  let  me  respectfully  ask  you,  my  lord,  and  through 
you  this  whole  venerable  assembly,  to  remember  the  circum- 


5o  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

stance  and  the  times  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Luther,  Cal- 
vin,  Zwingle  and  a  thousand  other  heretics  had  raised  a 
storm  against  our  Holy  Catholic  Church  such  as  the  world 
had  nt'Vt'r  seen.  Tin*  spotless  sails  of  the  sacred  ship  were 
torn  into  fragments  by  th«'  hurricane. 

"The  roaring  and  furious  billows  of  the  raging  sea  were 
striking  the  sacred  ship  from  every  side  and  even  more  than 
in  the  terrible  storm  spoken  of  by  St.  Luke, — Christ  seemed 
to  sleep  and  let  the  storm  rage.  .  .  .  Whole  nations  had 
been  swept  away  from  the  deck,  and  many  more  were  threat- 
ened to  disappear  under  the  roaring  billows. 

*'  What  was  to  be  done  in  that  supreme  hour  of  anguish  and 
peril? 

"  Have  you  not  heard  what  is  often  done  in  the  midst  of 
destructive  hurricanes,  by  the  fearless  and  skilful  mariners,  to 
save  the  ship?  Do  they  not  throw  overboard  many  of  the 
most  precious  i^arts  of  the  cargo  in  those  hours  of  peril? 

"  Is  it  because  they  find  those  objects  bad  in  themselves  or 
because  they  have  a  peculiar  detestation  of  them,  they  throw 
them  overboard?     No. 

"  It  is  often  the  contrary;  they  often  throw  overboard  what 
they  consider  the  most  precious  part  of  the  cargo,  the  very 
objects  they  love  the  most.  But  do  you  not  know  what  more 
than  once  the  honest  and  intrepid  captain  with  his  fearless 
crew  have  done  after  the  storm  was  over  and  the  ship  was 
saved  ? 

"  Have  you  not  seen  them,  after,  going  back  to  the  place 
where  they  had  been  so  near  to  perish  to  pick  up  as  many  as 
they  could  of  the  precious  objects  and  treasures  they  had 
thrown  overboard?  And  when  they  had  picked  up  and  saved 
as  much  as  they  could  of  the  precious  objects  which  were  yet 
seen  floating  on  the  surface  of  the  calmed  waters,  have  you 
not  seen  them  making  for  the  port  of  safety?  And  did  they 
not  bless  God  for  having  given  them  the  opportunity  of 
wrenching  from  the  raging  waves  the  very  objects  they  had 
thrown  overboard  to  obey  the  laws  of  a  cruel  necessity? 


First   Publication  of  the  Scriptures  in   Canada     6i 

"  My  lord,  and  my  venerable  and  dear  brother  priests 
There  is  no  use  of  shutting  our  eyes  to  the  sad  realities  of  our 
present  condition.  We  cannot  read  the  history  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  without  shedding  tears  on  the  precious  and 
sacred  things  thrown  overboard  to  save  the  ship  in  those  days 
of  furious  storms. 

"  I  am  not  here  to  criticise  and  condemn  the  pilots  and  the 
illustrious,  learned  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Nay,  my 
tongue  be  forever  silent  and  mute  rather  than  condemn  the 
holy  men  who  were  manning  the  sacred  ship  in  those  stormy 
days!  Nay,  my  right  hand  be  paralyzed  if  it  is  raised  in 
condemnation  against  them. 

'•But  now  that  the  dear  Saviour,  as  when  on  the  furious  sea 
of  Samaria,  has  awoke  from  His  mysterious  sleep;  now  that 
He  has  stopped  the  raging  waves  and  bidden  the  storm  to 
cease,  is  it  not  the  duty  of  every  one  of  us  who  are  forming 
the  crew  engaged  by  the  Master  to  man  the  ship;  is  it  not 
our  duty  to  revisit  the  sea,  when  it  is  calmed,  to  pick  up  and 
save  some  of  the  precious  things  which  are  still  floating 
around  us,  before  they  entirely  disappear  from  our  sight,  and 
forever  sink  under  the  treacherous  waves?  " 

The  last  words  had  hardly  fallen  from  my  lips  when  a  burst 
of  applause  from  the  great  majority  of  my  hearers  told  me 
that  I  had  touched  the  right  chords  of  their  intelligence. 

But  it  was  easy  to  see  that  the  old  priests,  for  the  greater 
part,  were  still  furious  against  me.  However,  not  feeling 
hampered  by  their  visible  ill-will,  I  continued: 

"  My  lord,  among  the  precious  and  divine  things  thrown 
overboard  in  those  days  of  trouble,  which  we  must  try  to 
save  is  the  unquestionable  right  which  every  Christian  has  to 
read  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  interpret  them  according  to  his 
own  honest  conscience,  guided  by  the  Holy  Ghost  who  is 
never  refused  to  those  who  ask  Him. 

"  For  instance,  who  among  us  would  dare  to  say  that  the 
admirable  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Romans  was  not  the  prop- 
erty of  every  Christian  of  Rome?     Had  not  every  Christian 


62  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

of  Romo  the  ri^ht  t(i  read  and  keep  that  letter  thirty  years 
after  the  death  of  Christ?  And  where  do  we  find  an 
authority  to  say  that  any  council  liad  the  ri.tjjht  to  take  away 
that  Epistle  from  the  hands  of  the  Christians  of  Rome  in 
those  days? 

"How  could  that  letter,  sent  by  the  Apostle  Paul  as  bread 
of  life  to  the  Romans  of  his  time,  be  considered  such  a 
deadly  poison  by  his  successor,  Paul  IV.,  that  it  would  be 
absolutely  forbidden  to  taste  it  to=day  by  the  same  people  of 
Rome? 

"  Are  we  really  determined  to  continue  to  say  to  our  people 
that  that  Saint  Paul,  who  was  so  visibly  guided  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  had  not  common  sense  enough  to  write  a  letter  to 
that  people  which  they  could  understand?  Can  we  find  a 
single  word  in  that  letter  of  Paul  to  give  us  to  understand 
that  the  people  of  Rome  could  not  make  use  of  their  own 
personal  intelligence  and  conscience,  but  that  they  had  to 
borrow  the  intellect  and  conscience  of  their  neighbour  to 
understand  him? 

"What  I  say  of  the  admirable  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the 
Romans.  I  say  of  all  tlie  Scriptures.  I  thank  God  that  I  am 
a  Catholic  priest.  I  would  not  exchange  the  honour  and  the 
privileges  of  that  title  for  all  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  world. 
I  do  not  revolt  against  our  holy  Church;  I  do  not  condemn 
the  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent  for  having  done  what  they 
did  to  save  the  ship  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  most  terrible 
hurricane. 

"But  now  our  magnificent  ship  is  sailing  on  a  calm  sea.  Is 
it  not  the  time  to  take  again  on  deck  the  untold  spiritual,  in- 
tellectual, moral  and  Divine  treasures,  which  Christ  has 
brought  from  heaven  to  save  the  world? 

"  Ah!  I  wish  my  feeble  voice  could  go  all  over  the  world  and 
be  heard  by  all  those  whom  the  dear  Saviour  had  redeemed 
in  }Iis  blood  and  who  havi'  accepted  Him  as  their  only  hope, 
their  only  joy,  their  only  life  for  time  and  eternity!  Let 
them    be   called   consecrated   priests   of   the   Lamb,   or   the 


First  Publication  of  the  Scriptures  in   Canada     6^ 

redeemed  of  the  Lamb,  it  is  the  same  in  my  mind.  To  every 
one  of  them  I  would  say:  '  Is  it  not  time  to  enter  again  into 
the  inheritance  of  the  treasures  we  have  lost?  Is  it  not 
time  to  hold  in  our  own  hands  and  press  to  our  bosoms 
the  untold  treasures  which  the  Son  of  God  has  given  us  in 
the  Gospel?' 

"  For  remember  this,  the  day  you  have  sworn  or  promised 
in  any  way  not  to  interpret  it  according  to  your  own  intelli- 
gence, your  own  conscience,  guided  by  the  Spirit  and  the 
grace  of  God,  that  Divine  Book  is  an  empty  cistern;  it  is  a 
cistern  without  water,  it  is  water  without  substance,  without 
taste,  without  life. 

"You  have  not  forgotten,  my  lord,  that  when  I  was  or- 
dained a  priest,  you  asked  me  to  make  a  most  solemn  prom- 
ise, in  the  presence  of  God  and  His  people,  that  I  would 
never  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  according  to  my  own  in- 
telligence, conscience  and  common  sense. 

"With  my  hand  on  the  Holy  Bible,  you  made  me  swear  that 
I  would  interpret  it  only  according  to  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  holy  fathers, 

"  Now,  I  solemnly  and  respectfully  ask  your  lordship  to 
answer  me:  If  I  am  too  stupid,  too  ignorant,  too  much 
deprived  of  Christian  intelligence  to  understand  St.  Matthew, 
St.  Mark,  St.  Luke,  St.  John  when  speaking  to  me  in  the 
name  of  my  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  how  can  I  be  intelligent 
enough  to  understand  Tertullian,  Jerome,  Augustine,  etc., 
who  are  infinitely  more  obscure? 

"Please,  my  lord,  tell  us,  if  St.  John,  St.  Luke,  St.  Peter,  St. 
Paul,  etc.,  have  not  received  from  my  God  the  light,  the 
grace  to  speak  to  me  in  an  intelligent  way,  when  surely  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  how  is  it  that  Origen,  Justice,  Clement, 
etc.,  have  surely  received  from  my  God,  a  degree  of  lucidity 
and  clearness  refused  to  His  ambassadors.  His  apostles  and 
His  evangelists? 

"  If  I  cannot  rely  on  my  own  private  judgment  and  con- 
science when  studying,  with  the  help  of  God,  the  Divine  pages 


64  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

of  the  Bible,  how  can  I  rely  on  that  private  judgment  when 
studying  the  holy  fathers? 

"If  you  answer  ino  that  I  have  nothing  else  but  my  private 
judgment  and  intelligence  to  read,  understand,  and  follow 
the  holy  fathers,  how  is  it  that  I  shall  be  lost  if  I  make  use 
of  that  same  private  judgment  when  I  am  at  the  feet  of  my 
Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  listening  to  His  eternal  and  life=giving 
words? 

"  Nothing  distresses  me  so  much  in  our  holy  religion  as  this 
want  of  contidence  in  God  when  we  go  to  our  Saviour's  feet 
to  hear  or  read  His  soul=saving  words,  and  our  so  perfect  self= 
confidence,  when  we  go  among  sinful  and  fallible  men,  even 
called  holy  fathers,  to  know  what  they  say, 

"  Would  it  be  possible  that,  in  our  holy  church,  the  Word  of 
God  means  uncertainty,  darkness,  night,  death;  and  the 
words  of  men  light  and  life? 

"  When  you,  our  venerable  Bishop,  did  put  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures into  my  hands  and  commanded  me  to  study  and  preach 
them,  I  understood  what  you  meant,  and  I  promised  to  do  it 
with  my  best  ability  with  the  help  of  God.  You  gave  me  a 
most  sublime  work  to  perform,  and  by  the  grace  of  God,  my 
whole  life  shall  be  consecrated  to  it.  But  when  you  ordered 
me  to  swear  that  I  would  never  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures 
except  according  to  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  holy  fa- 
thers, have  you  not  forced  me  to  be  a  perjured  man  by 
swearing  to  a  thing  which  I  could  not  do!  Have  you  not 
made  me,  with  every  priest  here,  swear  to  do  a  thing  as 
ridiculous  and  impossible  as  to  take  the  moon  into  my  hands! 

"  For  it  is  very  probable  that  there  are  not  two  chapters  of 
that  Divine  Book  on  which  there  have  not  been  some  differ- 
ences of  views  among  the  holy  fathers.  The  writings  of  the 
holy  fathers  fill  at  least  200  volumes  in  folio,  and  it  would 
re(|uire  mon>  than  ten  years  to  know  on  what  text  they  are 
unanimously  of  the  same  mind,  and  on  what  texts  they  differ. 

"If,  after  that  time  of  study,  I  find  that  they  are  unanimous 
on  the  question  of   orthodoxy  on  which  I  have  to  preach,  all 


First  Publication  of  the  Scriptures  in   Canada     65 

will  be  right  with  me,  I  will  walk  to  the  gates  of  eternity 
with  a  fearless  heart.  But  if  among  fifty  holy  fathers  there 
are  forty=nine  on  one  side  and  one  of  opposite  views,  in  what 
awful  distress  I  will  be  plunged!  I  shall  be  like  a  ship  in  a 
stormy  night,  after  losing  her  mast,  her  sails,  her  compass 
and  her  helm!     I  shall  be  lost! 

"If  I  were  allowed  to  follow  the  majority  there  would 
always  be  a  plank  of  safety  to  secure  me  from  the  impending 
wreck.  But  my  oath,  my  terrible  oath,  has  tied  me  and  every 
one  of  you,  my  venerable  brethren,  to  the  unanimity.  If  our 
faith  and  the  doctrine  we  preach  is  not  that  of  unanimity,  we 
are  perjured, lost  men! 

"What  a  frightful  alternative  is  put  before  us  by  that 
strange  oath! 

"The  holy  prophet,  speaking  of  the  Word  of  God,  tells  us: 
'  Thy  Word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet  and  a  liglit  unto  my  path.' 
(Ps.  119:105.)  But  what  are  we  doing  with  that  Divine 
lamp  and  that  bright  and  precious  light? 

"  We  put  it  under  the  bushel  that  it  may  not  be  seen !     We 
are  sworn  to  ignore  and  deny  its  power  and  authority.  '  I  am 
not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,'   said    Paul,  '  for  it  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth.' 
(Kom,  1:16.) 

"  But,  by  our  conduct,  do  we  not  really  make  the  people  be- 
lieve that  '  The  Gospel  is  the  power  of  the  devil  to  damn  the 
world?' 

"Not  only  we  prevent  our  people  from  having  any  access  to 
the  Divine  Book,  but  we  violently  take  it  from  their  hands  and 
destroy  it  under  their  eyes  when  we  have  opportunity  to  do  it. 

"  By  my  advice,  two  years  before  I  was  curate  of  Beauport, 
four  of  the  principal  families  of  that  parish  had  purchased,  in 
Quebec,  as  many  Bibles  of  Sacy,  approved  by  the  Cardinal 
Archbishop  of  Paris, 

"  But  my  predecessor,  Rev.  Begin,  who  is  just  sitting  here, 
at  my  right  hand,  having  heard  of  it,  went,  without  an  hour 
of  delay,  wrenched  the  sacred  volumes  from  their  hands,  and 


66  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

threw  them  into  the  fire,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  family. 

"  What  we  respectfully  ask  from  you  is,  not  only  to  put  an 
end  to  these  sacrilej^ious  acts,  but  to  show  our  love  and 
respect  for  the  holy  Gospel  by  giving  it  to  our  people  with 
the  commentaries  approved  by  the  Church. 

"It  is  evident  that  the  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent  made 
those  stringent  laws  against  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures almost  in  spite  of  themselves — with  the  understanding 
that  those  restrictions  were  deplorable  things,  and  only  to  be 
in  force  for  a  short  period  of  time.  They  wisely  gave  to 
every  Bishop  the  right  and  power  to  destroy  those  barriers 
and  to  restore  the  natural  right  the  people  had  to  the  Holy 
Book  when  they  find  it  advisable. 

"  Then,  it  is  not  a  revolt  against  the  holy  council  we  de- 
mand, it  is  only  a  favour  which  the  holy  council  has  allowed 
your  lordship  to  grant,  that  we  demand,  in  allowing  a  Cana- 
dian edition  of  the  Gospel.  And,  relying  on  the  zeal,  the 
piety  and  the  high  Christian  intelligence  of  our  Bishop,  it  is 
our  firm  hope  that  he  will  grant  us  that  favour." 

The  way  my  address  had  been  received  by  the  great  ma- 
jority gave  us  the  assurance  that  the  God  of  the  GosjDel  was 
on  my  side.  Rev.  Grand  Vicar  Demers,  ex=President  of  the 
Seminary  of  Quebec,  was  the  only  one  who  tried  to  refute 
me.  But  he  did  not  dare  to  touch  a  single  one  of  my  argu- 
ments. His  address  consisted  in  the  hundred  times  repeated 
prophecy  that  Mr.  Chiniquy,  the  young  curate  of  Beauport, 
would  soon  become  a  Protestant  if  he  were  not  yet  one. 

Thanks  be  to  God,  he  was  a  good  prophet. 

Rev.  Charles  Baillargeon,  then  curate  and  some  years  later 
Bishop  of  Quebec,  defended  my  position  and  in  a  splendid 
address  on  the  right  of  the  people  to  read  the  Scriptures,  he 
clostxl  the  discussion. 

When  the  votes  were  taken,  only  five  dared  to  oppose  us. 
The  victory  was  complete.  The  Bishop  at  once  named  a 
committee  to  prepare  the  first  Canadian  Edition  of  the  New 
Testament  which  was  not  finished  until  1846. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Diarkest  Hour  of  the  Night  Before  the  Bright  Rays  of  the  Day 

The  10th  day  of  January,  1846,  the  large  parlour  of  the  Right 
Rev.  Bourget,  Bishop  of  Montreal,  was  filled  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  priests,  to  whom  he  said,  in  substance,  "  I  have  in- 
vited you  here  to  ask  your  advice  on  a  most  important  and 
sad  subject. 

"  You  all  know  the  efforts  made  recently  by  the  Protestants 
to  destroy  the  faith  of  our  dear  people.  At  first,  their  per- 
fidious and  underground  work  was  so  universally  looked  upon 
with  horror  by  our  countrymen  that  we  hoped  we  had  noth- 
ing to  fear  from  those  miserable  apostles  of  error  and  irre- 
ligion. 

"  But  to-day  a  dark  and  threatening  cloud  is  in  the  very 
heart  of  one  of  our  most  interesting  parishes. 

"  I  have  just  learned  that  more  than  fifty  young  boys  and 
girls,  all  children  of  our  Catholic  families,  have  been  entered 
into  the  Protestant  college  of  La  Pointe  aux  Trembles  at  the 
very  door  of  Montreal. 

"If,  every  year,  those  fifty  or  sixty  young  men  and  girls 
poisoned  by  the  errors  and  impieties  of  Protestantism  are 
sent  back  from  that  school  into  the  midst  of  our  honest  but 
illiterate  population,  who  cannot  see  that  they  will  scatter  the 
poison  of  heresy  and  Protestantism  into  hundreds,  even 
thousands  of  families  of  our  good  but  so  unlearned  country 
people  ?  Every  one  of  those  perverted  boys  and  girls  will  be 
like  sparks  of  fire  which  will  soon  be  spread  all  over  our  dear 
Canada,  and  cause  the  ruin  of  our  holy  Church. 

"  We  must  not  lose  a  moment  in  extinguishing  those  threat- 
ening sparks  of  fire. 

67 


68  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

"  It  was  to  ask  you  the  help  of  your  wisdom  on  the  best  way 
of  couuteracting  the  first  efforts  of  those  heretics  that  I  have 
invitt'd  you  to  meet  here  to  day." 

As  I  had  been  working  then  only  a  few  months  in  the 
diocese  of  Montreal,  I  felt  that  my  duty  was  to  let  my  elder 
priests  give  their  views  and  I  kept  silent,  listening  to  what 
was  said,  for  more  than  an  hour.  Then  the  Bishop  told  me, 
"  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  though  you  have  been  among  us  only 
a  few  months,  you  have  worked  four  years  within  the  city  of 
Quebec,  four  other  years  in  the  grand  parish  of  Beauport, 
and  as  long  in  the  still  more  important  parish  of  Kamou- 
raska. 

"In  every  one  of  those  places,  I  know  that  you  have  met  a 
great  many  Protestants,  and  I  have  even  learned  from  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  that  you  have  laboured  with  such  zeal  and 
success  among  those  heretics  that  you  have  persuaded  ninety- 
three  of  them  to  give  up  their  errors  and  submit  themselves 
to  the  holy  Church.  We  want  the  benefit  of  your  experience. 
We  would  like  to  know  your  views  about  the  best  way  of 
paralyzing  the  efforts  of  the  Protestants  in  their  diabolical 
project  of  spreading  their  errors  in  the  midst  of  our  dear 
Catholic  people."  Though  this  request  took  me  by  surprise, 
I  was  pleased  with  it.  No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  preju- 
dices, the  contempt,  nay  the  hatred  which  my  theological 
studies,  and  my  personal  natural  wickedness  had  accumulated 
in  my  mind  against  Protestants  from  the  very  day  I  had 
entered  the  college  of  Nicolet  to  that  very  hour  of  the  20th  of 
January,  1850. 

Though  I  am  ashamed  to  do  it,  I  really  think  it  is  my 
duty  to  confess  that  I  was  hating  with  a  supreme  hatred 
every  English  man  and  woman,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
they  were  Protestants. 

Such  was,  in  the  days  of  my  youth,  the  impressions  of  the 
education  given  in  the  family,  in  the  schools  and  in  the  col- 
leges, that  every  Protestant  was  looked  upon  by  me  as  a  mon- 
ster, born  enemy  of  ray  religion,  of  my  God  and  my  country. 


Darkness   Before  the   Dawn  69 

The  books  I  had  read,  the  lessons  of  my  teachers  in  the  col- 
lege, and  of  my  theologians  in  the  Seminaries  were  all  con- 
verging to  the  same  result.  These  dark,  infamous  and  dia- 
bolical sentiments  made  such  an  impression  on  my  young  mind, 
that,  to=day,  I  am  still  filled  with  disgust  and  horror  against  my 
teachers  as  against  myself  when  I  think  of  them. 

Under  the  full  pressure  of  those  sentiments  I  reminded 
the  Bishop  that  the  dangers  ahead  for  our  dear  country  and 
our  holy  Church  were  greater  than  many  suspected.  I  added, 
"This  is  a  war  to  death  between  those  infamous  heretics  and 
our  holy  Church.  It  is  a  hand  to  hand  battle,  every  one  of  us 
has  to  fight  against  those  soldiers  of  hell  if  we  want  to  save 
our  country.  In  all  her  councils  and  through  all  her  theolo- 
gians of  our  holy  Church,  has  she  not  forbidden  us  to  have  any 
communication  with  the  heretics?  Has  not  our  holy  Church 
told  us  that  we  must  deal  with  them  as  with  wolves  which 
cross  our  fields  to  devour  our  lambs  and  our  sheep?  Does 
not  our  Jure  Canonico  tell  us  that  it  is  not  a  sin  to  kill  them, 
when  we  have  our  opportunity?  What  can  I  say  on  our 
duties  and  rights  in  reference  to  those  miserable  ambassadors 
of  hell  which  you  do  not  know? 

"  Let  every  one  of  you  listen  to  the  word  of  his  intelligence 
as  well  as  to  the  voice  of  our  Church  about  the  best  way  of 
saving  our  dear  Catholic  people  from  the  jaws  of  those  roar- 
ing lions.  I  will  say  please  let  me  go  and  preach  to  the  peo- 
ple of  La  Pointe  aux  Trembles  three  or  four  days.  Give  me 
carte  blanche  to  act  and  fight  in  my  own  way  against  those 
miserable  ambassadors  of  hell,  and,  with  the  help  of  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary,  I  will  give  you  a  good  account  of  my 
humble  efforts  against  them.  My  hope  is  that  after  those 
three  or  four  days  of  crossing  the  sword  with  those  ignorant 
and  fanatical  followers  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  we  shall  not 
have  much  to  fear  from  them." 

My  short  address  was  received  with  the  most  frantic  ap- 
plause from  the  whole  assembly. 

After  a  few  approving  remarks,  Bishop  Bourget  told  me, 


yo  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

"  Go,  and  reuinin  not  only  three  days,  but  much  longer,  if  you 
wish  to  confound  and  pulverize  those  heretics.  We  will  pray 
the  Virj^'in  IMnry  and  St.  John  the  Baptist,  the  patron  Saint 
of  Canada,  to  help  you.  But  be  prudent,  do  not  expose  your- 
self in  any  way  which  might  put  you  in  the  hands  of  the 
law. 

"  Do  not  forget  that  our  misfortune  is  that  we  are  a  con- 
quered people  ruled  by  Protestant  England,  and  we  have  no 
fair  play  nor  any  justice  to  expect  from  those  heretics." 

A  week  later  I  WJis  the  guest  of  the  curate  of  La  Pointe  aux 
Trembles,  who  at  the  demand  of  his  Bishop,  had  invited  me 
to  deliver  a  course  of  three  days  lectures  to  his  people  against 
Protestants. 

During  the  next  three  days  the  church  of  La  Pointe  aux 
Trembles  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  not  only  by 
the  people  of  that  parish,  but  by  hundreds  from  the  neighbour- 
ing parishes  who  wanted  to  know  what  I  had  to  say  against 
the  Siriss,  as  the  first  French  Protestants  used  to  be  called  in 
Canada,  because,  likely,  some  of  the  first  missionaries  were 
Swiss. 

My  memory  and  my  mind  were  stuifed  in  a  marvelous  way 
with  all  the  ridiculous,  abominable,  diabolical  lies  jjublished 
against  Luther,  Calvin,  Zwingle,  etc.,  and  against  all  those 
who  had  accepted  their  reforms. 

All  those  lies  and  calumnies  were  sincerely  believed  by  me 
as  Gospel  truth  (as  they  are  generally  believed  even  to=day  by 
the  priests  of  Rome).  I  gave  them  to  the  people  with  all  the 
epithets  and  expressions  of  contempt  and  wrath  that  fanatical 
and  blind  zeal  could  inspire  me. 

My  readers  would  hardly  believe  me  to  day  were  I  to  tell 
them  the  historical  lies  which  I  gave  those  poor  people  as 
Gospel  truth. 

For  instance,  I  told  them  how  the  Protestants  of  France, 
after  having  slaughtered  thousands  and  thou.'^ands  of  defense- 
less priests,  nuns  and  honest  farmers,  had  sold  their  country 
to  English  Protestants  who  were   coming   to   cover   France 


Darkness   Before  the   Dawn  71 

with  blood  and  ruin,  if  the  good,  honest,  peaceful,  French 
Catholics  had  not  been  forced  in  self=defense  to  slaughter 
those  bloody  and  treacherous  Protestants  in  the  St.  Barthol- 
omew night. 

For,  let  the  Protestants  of  Canada  and  the  whole  world 
know  that  this  is  one  of  the  Romish  historical  lies  and  calum- 
nies invented  by  the  Jesuits,  and  accepted  as  Gospel  truth 
by  the  great  majority  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

"  Look  at  the  miserable  heretics,"  I  said  to  the  people, 
"  how  they  look  peaceful,  charitable,  humble,  to=day.  Their 
voice  is  like  the  voice  of  the  dove  in  their  manners  when 
they  visit  with  you  with  their  falsified  Bible  under  their 
arms;  they  look  like  lambs.  But  let  them  grow  in  number, 
and  they  will  do  here  what  they  did  in  France,  England, 
Scotland,  wherever  they  are  strong  enough:  they  will  turn 
your  houses  and  your  churches  into  ashes,  and  they  will 
slaughter  you  to  take  possession  of  your  beautiful  farms,  if 
you  dare  to  resist  them!  " 

Really,  the  devil  had  taken  possession  of  me,  when  I  was 
proclaiming  those  horrible  Jesuitical  lies,  which  I  believed 
then  very  sincerely. 

For,  let  the  Protestants  who  read  these  lines  remember  that 
this  is  the  history  as  the  Jesuits  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  writers  have  given  it. 

What  could  be  the  feelings  of  my  poor  countrymen  after 
three  days  of  such  horrible  historical  lies  given  them  with  a 
burning  zeal  by  a  priest  in  whom  they  had  confidence? 

Shall  I  tell  it  again?  Yes!  The  devil  had  really  taken 
possession  of  my  heart.  I  was  breathing  nothing  but  hatred, 
vengeance  and  death  against  those  defenseless  and  humble 
ministers  of  the  Gospel.  My  hope  was  that  I  would  make 
the  ground  so  hot  under  their  feet,  in  that  parish  and  every- 
where in  Canada,  that  they  could  not  dwell  any  longer  in  our 
land. 

The  last  address  was  hardly  finished  the  third  day,  when  I 
saw  five  or  six  of  those  humble  and  zealous  ministers  of  the 


72  Forty  Years  in    the   Church   of  Christ 

Gospel,  or  colporteurs,  who  had  patiently  and  brav<^ly  at- 
tended all  my  meeting's,  with  their  Bibles  in  their  hands, 
coming'  to  meet  and  challenge  me  to  have  a  discussion  with 
them,  promisinj^  to  refute  me  before  my  people. 

I  was  overjoyed  when  I  heard  them  challenfi^ing  me  to  a 
public  disc-ussion.  It  was  just  the  trap  in  which  my  hope 
was  that  they  would  fall. 

Instead  of  accepting  their  challenge,  I  turned  towards  the 
multitude,  that  had  just  come  out  of  the  church, — and  I  said: 
"  Do  you  not  see  those  miserable  heretics,  who  come  to  chal- 
lenge and  insult  you  and  me,  at  the  very  door  of  your  church? 
Why  do  you  not  give  them  a  lesson  which  they  will  never 
forget?" 

A  thought  had  evidently  come  from  hell  into  my  heart,  in 
that  hour,  the  darkest  of  my  life. 

I  do  not  like  to  confess  it,  but  I  must.  The  intelligent 
reader  understands  that  my  intention  was  to  have  them  so 
cruelly  beaten,  that  they  would  either  die  there,  on  the  spot, 
or  be  so  cruelly  treated  that  they  would  run  away  from  the 
place,  never  to  come  again. 

My  cruel  and  cowardly  intention  was  so  well  understood  by 
the  multitude  that  the  words  had  hardly  fallen  from  my  lips, 
when  forty  or  fifty  young  men,  like  furious  tigers,  threw 
themselves  on  those  few  defenseless  men,  and  struck  them 
without  mercy. 

In  a  moment  their  clothes  were  torn  into  rags,  and  their 
bruised  and  bleeding  bodies  were  rolling  in  the  snow,  which 
was  two  or  three  feet  deep  on  the  ground.  Very  soon  the 
sncw  was  reddened  with  the  blood  of  several  of  them. 

With  a  word  of  my  lips  or  a  movement  of  my  finger  I 
could  have  put  a  stop  to  that  horror. 

But,  alas,  I  was  a  true,  a  devoted  priest  of  Rome! 

The  blood  of  those  heretics  was  the  most  pleasant  tiling  I 
had  ever  seen! 

I  was  saying  to  myself,  "  Surely  if  they  are  not  killed  they 


Darkness   Before  the  Dawn  73 

will  run  away,  never  to  come  again!"  Very  probably  they 
would  have  been  killed  there,  if  the  God  of  the  Gospel  had  not 
come  to  the  help  of  His  heroic  messengers. 

A  noble  Roman  Catholic  French  Canadian  farmer,  moved 
with  compassion  at  the  horrible  spectacle  which  was  before 
his  eyes,  cried  out,  "  It  is  a  shame  to  beat  so  cruelly  defense- 
less men — I  cannot  bear  that." 

Then  quick  as  lightning,  throwing  his  coat  and  overcoat 
on  the  snow,  he  struck  the  nearest  of  the  would-be  murderers 
with  his  terrible  fist,  and  sent  him  rolling  down  bleeding  in 
the  snow. 

In  less  time  than  I  can  say  it,  he  had  applied  his  terrible 
fist  on  the  bleeding  noses  or  the  blackened  eyes  of  half  a 
dozen  of  his  cruel  and  mistaken  Roman  Catholic  countrymen. 
And  who  will  not  praise  the  Lord  with  me,  to-day,  when  I 
say  that  this  heroic  action  was  applauded  by  most  of  the 
people?  The  wounded  and  bleeding,  but  heroic,  servants  of 
Christ  were  at  once  left  free  to  pick  up  their  ragged  clothing 
and  run  back  as  fast  as  possible  to  their  lodgings. 

Then,  falling  on  their  knees  (as  I  learned  ten  years  later 
from  their  own  lips),  they  raised  their  supplicating  hands  to 
the  Mercy  Seat,  and  said  to  the  dear  Saviour  as  much  with 
their  blood  as  with  their  lips,  "  Dear  Saviour,  Thou  seest  our 
bruised  bodies  and  bleeding  wounds,  and  Thou  knowest  the 
one  who  has  caused  us  to  suffer  as  we  do.  We  beseech  Thee, 
look  down  on  him  in  Thy  mercy.  Show  him  the  error  of 
his  ways.  Give  him  the  saving  light  of  the  Gospel,  that  he 
may  know  and  love  Thee  as  his  only  Saviour;  change  that 
stone  of  the  wilderness  into  a  child  of  Abraham.  Grant  him 
to  see  the  ignominious  chains  which  tie  him  to  the  feet  of  the 
idols  of  Rome,  that  he  may  come  with  us  to  invite  his  poor 
Canadian  countrymen  to  accept  Thee  as  their  only  hope  and 
Saviour  for  time  and  eternity." 

And,  blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  prayers  of  those  modern  and 
heroic  martyrs  were  heard  at  the  Mercy  Seat. 


74  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

There  has  never  been  any  doubt  in  my  mind  about  the  fact 
that,  in  the  admirable  providence  of  God,  I  owe  my  conver- 
sion to  tlie  fervent  prayers  of  these  six  humble  but  admirable 
Christians,  who  had  been  so  cruelly  beaten  at  my  instigation 
in  January,  1850,  at  the  door  of  the  Church  of  Pointe  aux 
Trembles. 

The  ni^'ht  after  I  had  committed  that  criminal  and  shame- 
ful act,  was  spout  in  the  parsonage  of  Longueil  where  I  used, 
then,  to  reside  with  my  intimate  friend.  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard. 
It  was  a  sleepless  night. 

I  was  hardly  in  my  bed  when  a  voice  more  terrible  than  the 
roar  of  thunder  was  crying  within  my  soul:  "Are  you  not 
ashamed  of  what  you  have  done  to-day?  Though  by  a  real 
miracle  those  defenseless  and  honest  men  have  not  been 
killed,  the  blood  they  have  lost,  the  cruel  wounds  they  have 
received,  cry  for  vengeance  to  God  against  you." 

To  silence  those  voices  and  excuse  myself  in  my  own  eyes, 
I  rose  three  or  four  times  to  read  the  theological  books  of  my 
church  and  see  again  what  she  was  teaching  about  the  right 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  to  persecute  the  Protestants. 

I  read  in  St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  Vol.  4,  page  99,  that  not  only 
we  should  "  not  tolerate  them,  but  that  we  must  deliver  them 
into  the  hands  of  the  secular  j^ower  to  be  exterminated." 
When  reading  these  doctrines  of  the  best  and  most  approved 
theologians  of  my  church,  which  were  unanimous  in  assur- 
ing me  that  the  heretics  have  no  right  to  live,  I  persuaded 
myself  that,  after  all,  I  had  not  committed  any  sin,  when 
only  beating  men  whom  we  had  the  right  to  kill. 

It  was  then,  that,  for  the  first  time,  I  heard  a  new  voice 
within  my  soul  which  caused  me  unspeakable  distress  from 
that  night  to  the  day  of  my  conversion. 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  in  your  Church  of  Rome  you  do  not 
follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  you  follow  the  lying  traditions 
of  men?"  It  was  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  the  sugges- 
tion of  leaving  the  Church  of  Rome  had  come  to  me  with 
great  force. 


Darkness   Before  the  Dawn  75 

There  was  no  doubt  in  my  mind  bivt  that  all  the  powers  of 
hell  were  combined  for  my  perdition.  I  fell  on  my  knees 
and  prayed  to  God  to  silence  these  voices  which  were  shak- 
ing my  faith.  From  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  swore  I  would 
live  and  die  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  out  of  which  (I  sincere- 
ly believed,  then )  there  was  no  salvation. 

But,  to  prove  to  myself  again  that  I  had  done  well  to  get 
those  heretics  punished,  and  that  my  holy  Church  was  right 
to  teach  us  to  hate,  maltreat  and  even  kill  them,  I  took  my 
Bible,  with  the  hope  of  finding  some  of  the  texts  which 
would  prove  to  me  that  such  were  the  teachings  of  the  Scrip- 
ture. Where  can  I  find  words  to  express  my  surprise  and 
emotion  when,  on  opening  the  Divine  Book,  my  eyes  fell  on 
these  words  in  Luke,  Chapter  9: 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  time  was  come  that  He 
should  be  received  up.  He  steadfastly  set  His  face  to  go  to 
Jerusalem,  And  sent  messengers  before  His  face;  and  they 
went  and  entered  into  a  village  of  the  Samaritans  to  make 
ready  for  Him.  And  they  did  not  receive  Him  because  His 
face  was  as  though  He  would  go  to  Jerusalem.  And  when 
His  disciples,  James  and  John,  saw  this,  they  said,  Lord,  wilt 
Thou  that  we  command  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven,  and 
consume  them,  even  as  Elias  did?  But  He  turned,  and  rebuked 
them,  and  said.  Ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of. 
For  the  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to 
save  them."  I  had  hardly  finished  reading  this  last  sentence 
when  as  formidable  a  thunderclap  as  I  ever  heard,  before  or 
since,  struck  the  ears  of  my  soul,  saying,  "Do  you  not  see  that 
in  your  Church  of  Rome  you  do  not  follow  the  Word  of  God 
but  the  lying  traditions  of  men?  Where  do  your  Popes  and 
theologians  find  the  right  to  punish,  beat,  imprison  and  kill 
the  heretics,  when  Christ  says  the  very  contrary?  " 

What  could  I  answer  to  my  troubled  conscience  when  hear- 
ing those  awful  rebukes  from  the  very  lips  of  Christ?  I  felt 
stunned  and  more  than  ever  confounded.  While  sitting  at 
the  breakfast  table  the  next  morning,  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  told 


76  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

me;  "Your  eyes  are  swollen  as  if  you  had  spent  the  night  in 
tears  .  .  .  What  does  that  mean?"  "You  are  not  mis- 
taken when  you  think  that  I  have  wept,  last  night,"  I  an- 
swered. "I  have  just  passed  through  the  most  dreadful  hours 
of  my  life.  The  cruel  beating  of  those  poor  defenseless  men 
has  como  to  my  mind  and  conscience  under  such  colours 
all  night,  that  I  am  really  horrified  at  myself.  In  order  to 
silence  the  voice  of  my  guilty  conscience  I  left  my  bed 
several  times  to  read  the  pages  of  our  most  approved  and  learned 
theologians.  Of  course  I  have  found  them  unanimous  in 
telling  me  that  the  heretics  are  not  worthy  to  live,  that  they 
have  no  rights  which  we  are  bound  to  respect,  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  Catholic  Church  to  deliver  them  into  the  hands 
of  the  secular  power  to  be  exterminated,  that  it  is  forbidden 
to  speak  to  them,  to  work  with  them,  or  encourage  them  in 
any  way. 

"  In  your  volume  of  Jure  Canonico  I  have  read  again,  that, 
not  only  is  it  not  a  sin  to  kill  a  Protestant,  but  that  such  a 
holy  action  gives  the  assurance  of  the  pardon  of  all  his  sins 
to  the  murderer.  More  than  that  I  have  found  that  the  kill- 
ing of  a  Protestant  by  a  Catholic  is  not  murder.  But  this 
has  not  silenced  the  cry  of  my  conscience. 

"  But  to  my  unspeakable  confusion  my  eyes  have  fallen  on 
the  ninth  chapter  of  Luke,  where  our  Saviour  is  absolutely  in 
opposition  to  the  doctrines  and  practises  of  our  church  on 
that  subject.  Then  a  voice  more  terrible  than  that  of  a 
hurricane  had  shaken  my  very  frame,  when  crying  in  my  ears, 
'  D(^  you  not  see  that  in  your  Church  of  Rome  you  do 
not  follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  the  lying  traditions  of 
men?' 

"  What  could  I  answer  when  my  conscience  was  telling  me 
that  this  was  the  truth,  the  sad  truth!  But  how  can  I  picture 
to  you  my  distress  and  desolation,  when  it  seemed  to  me  that 
God  Himself  with  all  His  angels  was  crying  to  me:  'Come 
out,  come  out  from  that  Church  of  Rome,  whose  hands  are 


Darkness  Before  the  Dawn  77 

reddened  with  the  blood  of  ten  millions  of  men  she  has 
slaughtered  to  establish  her  power  over  this  enslaved,  blind, 
perishing  world.'  " 

Mr.  Brassard  answered  me:  "My  dear  Chiniquy,  with  the 
hope,  nay,  the  assurance,  that  you  will  never  betray  me,  I 
must  tell  you  that  there  are  many  things  in  our  poor  Church 
of  Rome  which  I  cannot  believe;  for  they  look  to  me  not 
only  against  the  teachings  of  the  Grospel,  but  against  common^ 
sense.  The  right  which  our  Church  assumes  to  command 
the  civil  power  to  hang,  burn,  torture  and  kill  the  heretics 
cannot  come  from  Christ.  I  am  always  struck  with  sorrow 
when  I  read  the  bloody  pages  of  our  Church  history,  which 
tell  us  how  she  has  filled  her  dungeons  with  not  thousands, 
but  millions  of  honest  men  and  women,  and  where  they  were 
starved  to  death  or  had  to  suffer  tortures  which  would  have 
horrified  the  savages  of  our  forests.  It  is  a  fact  that  our 
Church  has  put  to  death  millions  of  Protestants,  because  they 
could  not  believe  certain  doctrines  which  they,  wisely  or  un- 
wisely (God  only  knows),  thought  contrary  to  the  Scriptures. 
To  my  mind  and  conscience,  this  is  such  a  dark  spot  on  the 
face  of  our  Church  that  all  the  waters  of  our  vast  rivers  and 
bottomless  oceans  cannot  wash  it  away. 

"I  tell  you  my  mind,  my  dear  Chiniquy,  far  from  admiring 
or  approving  you,  when  yesterday  you  told  me  how  you  had 
caused  those  brave  and  honest  (though  mistaken)  Protes- 
tants to  be  so  cruelly  beaten,  I  silently  condemned  you  from 
the  bottom  of  my  heart. 

^'  Continue  to  spread  your  admirable  views  on  temperance, 
but  let  the  Protestants  alone.  Convert  them  if  you  can, 
with  scriptural  arguments,  but  give  up  forever  the  idea  that 
we  Roman  Catholics  have  any  right  to  beat  them  or  shed 
their  blood,  because  they  cannot  see  many  things  just  as 
we  do.'' 

When  uttering  these  last  words,  the  voice  of  my  noble 
friend  was  trembling,  yes,  there  were  tears  in  his  eyes,  and, 


78  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

uniiblo  to  conceal  his  emotion,  he  abruptly  left  the  table  and 
ran  to  his  room. 

This  friendly  rebuke  found  such  an  echo  in  my  troubled 
conscience  that  I  remained  speechless,  and  then  I  also  took 
to  my  priest's  room.  Leaving  the  table,  I  retired  with  the 
words  rimming  in  my  soul: 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  in  your  Church  of  Rome  you  do  not 
follow  the  Word  of  God,  but  the  lying  traditions  of  men?' 


CHAPTER  V 

A  Macedonian  Cry  from  Chicago.    Auricular  Confession 

Many  are  the  opportunities  we  have  had  to  understand 
what  Paul  felt,  w^hen,  in  a  vision,  he  heard  the  cry  from 
Macedonia,  "  Come  and  help  us."  Hundreds  of  times  we 
have  heard  that  cry  coming  from  Chicago  to  New  York; 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco;  from  San  Francisco  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  Tasmania,  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Ireland,  and  more  than  five  hundred  towns 
and  cities  in  the  provinces  of  Manitoba,  Ontario,  Quebec, 
New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  Prince  Edward  Island,  Cape 
Breton,  etc. 

Several  large  volumes  would  not  suffice  to  tell  the  interest- 
ing episodes,  the  narrow  escapes,  the  sorrows  as  well  as  the 
joys  of  our  heart,  when,  to  answer  that  cry,  we  had  to  pass 
through  the  most  crushing  humiliations,  or  we  had  to  rejoice 
at  the  great  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  over  its  implacable 
enemy,  Popery,  in  those  different  places  these  last  forty  years. 

The  first  Macedonian  cry,  after  our  conversion,  was  from 
Chicago. 

There  was  then,  in  that  city,  a  French  Canadian,  by  the 
name  of  Ducharme,  keeping  a  very  resjiectable  hotel.  A 
Roman  Catholic  by  birth  and  education,  his  faith  had  been 
shaken  by  the  scandalous  lives  of  the  priests  of  Rome  in  that 
city. 

From  him  came  the  first  Macedonian  appeal:  Come  and 
help  us! 

His  invitation  came  to  me  as  an  order  from  heaven.  To 
my  unspeakable  joy,  I  found  that  not  less  than  five  hundred 
of  my  countrymen  had  been  gathered  by  him  in  a  very  large 

79 


8o  Forty  Years   in   the   Church  of  Christ 

and  decent  hall,  near  the  Hay  market,  to  hear  the  Gospel 
message  I  had  to  give  them. 

After  the  most  hearty  reception  by  that  multitude,  and  a 
prayer  addressed  to  our  heavenly  Father,  I  told  them: 

"  I  do  not  come  here  to  address  to  you  any  long  speech. 
My  only  intention  is  to  give  you  the  explanations  you  want, 
and  to  answer  your  questions  about  our  new  religious  posi- 
tion." 

After  a  few  moments  of  silence,  the  President  rose  and 
said:  "Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  the  news  of  that  last  religious 
event  at  St.  Anne  has  come  to  us  as  an  earthquake,  which 
has  shaken  our  religious  views  to  their  foundations.  Yes,  in 
many  families,  our  religious  convictions  have  not  only  been 
shaken,  but  they  have  been  destroyed,  completely  ruined! 
To=day,  many  of  us  stand  before  the  religious  ruins  you  have 
made!  But  what  does  an  intelligent  man  do  when  his  house  has 
been  ruined,  shattered,  demolished  by  an  earthquake?  Does 
he  remain  with  folded  arms,  motionless  and  discouraged  be- 
fore his  demolished  house?  No.  After  the  first  hour  of 
desolation,  lie  looks  to  the  best  way  he  can  build  up  a  new 
home  on  those  ruins.  Nay,  he  looks  how  to  make  a  better 
homo  with  the  very  ruins  which  the  earthquake  lias  left. 

"  It  is  with  that  in  view  that  we  are  met  here.  You  confess 
that  you  are  the  cause  of  these  ruins.  Have  we  not,  then,  the 
right  to  ask  you  to  help  us  gather  what  we  can  from  the  ruins 
you  have  made  to  give  us  a  renewed  home,  and  more  solid 
foundations? 

"  In  the  name  (jf  this  large  assembly,  I  will  ask  you  why  you 
have  abolished  Auricular  Confession.  Is  it  not  a  Gospel 
institution?  Has  not  Christ  said  to  His  apostles,  '  What  ye 
bind  on  earth  shall  l)e  bound  in  heaven.'  'The  sins  ye  shall 
forgive  on  earth  shall  be  forgiven  in  heaven.  The  sins  ye 
shall  retain  on  earth  shall  be  retained  in  heaven?' 

"  What  have  you  to  give  us  to  reconcile  us  with  our  God 
after  we  have  sinned?" 

"To  answer   your  questions  from  the  Scripture,  history, 


A   Macedonian   Cry   from  Chicago  8i 

and  common^sense,"  I  replied,  "  I  would  keep  you  here  not 
only  the  whole  night,  but  during  all  the  hours  of  to-morrow. 
I  cannot  do  it.  I  will  then  present  only  a  few  common-sense 
arguments  against  Auricular  Confession,  and  with  the  help 
of  God,  you  will  be  forever  delivered  from  that  degrading 
and  infamous  yoke. 

"Please  tell  me,  is  your  wife  still  living?" 

"Yes,  sir,  thanks  be  to  God,  and  she  is  just  here  sitting  by 
me." 

"Have  you  any  daughters?" 

"  Yes,  sir,  I  have  two.     You  see  them  at  your  right  hand." 

"Have  you  any  boys?" 

"Yes,  sir,  three;  and  they  are  all  here  to  hear  you." 

"  Now  please  allow  me  to  address  you  a  few  other  ques- 
tions.    How  long  is  it  since  you  have  been  to  confession?" 

"  Well,  well,  you  ought  not  to  ask  me  that.  I  am  ashamed 
to  acknowledge  that  I  have  not  been  to  confess  for  seven 
years." 

"And  your  boys,  do  they  like  to  go  to  confess?" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  acknowledge  that  they  follow  my  bad  exam- 
ple. They  do  not  go  to  confess  more  than  their  poor 
father. ' 

"And  your  wife  and  daughters,  if  it  is  not  an  indiscretion 
to  ask  that  question,  do  they  go  to  confess  very  often?  " 

"  Yes,  thanks  be  to  God,  my  wife  and  daughters  are  very 
pious;  they  never  let  a  month  pass  without  going  to  confess 
to  their  priest.  And  I  think  if  I  had  not  objected  to  it  they 
would  go  to  confess  every  week." 

"  Now,  my  dear  sir,  I  must  thank  you  for  your  answering 
me.  But  I  have  another  question  to  ask  you,  and  though  it 
is  of  a  very  delicate  nature,  I  hope  that  you  will  continue  to 
deserve  the  respect  and  gratitude  of  this  large  meeting,  by 
your  -honourable  and  truthful  answer.  Suppose  that  instead 
of  a  man  in  that  confessional  there  were  a  young  lady  to  hear 
your  confessions,  would  you  be  seven  years  without  regarding 
her  pressing  appeals  to  come  and  confess  to  her?" 


82  Fortv  Years    in   the   Church  of  Christ 

]\ly  quc'Htiou  was  followed  by  such  a  burst  of  laughter  as  I 
have  never  heard  before  nor  since.  My  honest  interlocutor 
answered  me. 

"  I'll  lot  you  guess  my  answer  l)y  what  you  know  of  the 
human  heart." 

"Yes,  yes,  you  are  right,"  I  told  him,  "it  is  useless  to  insist; 
any  one  who  has  s(nno  knowledge  of  human  nature,  would 
easily  understand  the  consequences  that  would  naturally  fol- 
low from  such  a  mode  of  Auricular  Confession.  Yet  why 
would  it  be  worse  than  llie  mode  which  is  now  practised? 

"  Women  are  more  shrewd  than  men  in  these  affairs.  There 
is  not  a  lady  among  you  who  would  allow  her  husband  to 
go  and  confess  to  a  young  lady.  If  a  Roman  Catholic  lady 
saw  her  son  going  once  a  month,  or  once  a  fortnight,  to  the 
feet  of  a  young  lady,  to  speak  to  her  for  hours  about  all  that 
is  going  on  in  his  poor  heart,  and  to  tell  her  all  his  thoughts 
and  desires,  she  would  go  and  take  him  away,  and  tell  him 
that  it  was  not  i^roijor  for  him  to  be  there.  She  w'ould  not 
permit  her  liusV)and  to  go  to  the  feet  of  the  most  respectable 
woman  and  tell  her  all  his  thoughts;  and  if  the  husband  urged 
that  there  was  no  danger,  and  that  the  lady  was  as  pure  as  an 
angel,  and  that  he  w\as  highly  respectable,  she  would  only 
laugh  at  him,  and  bring  him  out  of  the  confessional  box.  But 
it  is  strange  that  the  husband  is  not  so  shrewd.  He  is  a 
stupid  being,  compared  with  his  wife.  He  sees  his  wife 
going  to  the  feet  of  that  bachelor,  and  remaining  alone  with 
him  for  hours,  telling  him  all  her  secret  thoughts,  but  he 
says  to  himself  that  there  is  no  danger  as  his  wife  is  honest! 
And  where  is  the  difference  between  a  man  confessing  all  his 
sins  to  a  woman,  and  a  woman  telling  all  her  bad  thoughts 
and  actions  to  a  man?  You  would  not  tolerate  the  former. 
It  would  be  considered  an  offense  against  society,  a  public 
immorality.  And  in  the  latter  case  it  is  also  a  public  immo- 
rality. It  is  an  offense  against  the  laws  of  God,  and  it  ought 
to  be  an  offense  against  the  laws  of  man. 

"A  Bishop,  who  was  first  cousin  to  the  king   of   France, 


A   Macedonian   Cry   from   Chicago  83 

Charles  X.,  and  also  his  secretary,  came  to  Canada.  His  name 
was  Forbin  Janson,  and  he  had  been  Bishop  of  Nancy, 
Lorraine,  France.  After  confessing  to  me  one  day,  he  told 
me  that  there  was  a  book  I  should  have  which  would  guide 
me  in  putting  questions  to  the  priests  in  the  confessional;  it  is 
in  relation  to  the  sins  of  priests.  He  gave  me  a  copy  which 
I  have  brought  with  me  to-day,  and  I  ask  some  of  you  to 
come  forward  and  read  a  portion  of  it,  bearing  on  the  sub- 
ject we  now  consider.  It  is  a  question  the  priest  must  ask 
to  himself  in  his  examination  of  conscience  after  he  has  been 
hearing  confessions." 

Then  the  chairman  read  the  following  extract: 

"  When  hearing  the  confession  of  females,  have  I  put  to 
them  questions  about  their  sins,  which  brought  answers  by 
which  my  imagination  has  been  filled  with  thoughts  which 
have  led  me  into  great  temptation  and  sin?  The  priests  in 
general  do  not  jjay  sufficient  attention  to  the  bad  effect  which 
is  produced  by  hearing  the  confessions  of  females.  By  these 
confessions,  they  are  constantly  tempted,  and  these  tempta- 
tions weaken  the  soul  of  the  priest  to  such  a  degree  that  his 
purity  is  entirely  destroyed." 

"  That  is  pretty  clear,"  I  said.  "You  see,  it  affirms  that  the 
priests  are  constantly  tempted  and  induced  to  fall  into  sin 
through  the  confessional. 

''Napoleon  I.,  Emperor  of  France,  knew  so  well,  by  his  per- 
sonal experience,  the  corrupting  influence  of  Auricular  Con- 
fession on  the  minds  of  young  people,  that  when  his  only  boy 
was  old  enough  to  make  his  first  communion,  he  wrote  him- 
self the  questions  which  the  priest  would  be  allowed  to  put  to 
his  young  son,  and  he  absolutely  forbade  that  priest  to  put 
the  immoral  questions  usually  put  to  the  young  as  well  as  to 
the  old  jjeople. 

"If  le'ft  to  himself,  the  priest  of  Rome,  as  a  general  thing, 
would  not  put  those  infamous  questions.  But  the  priest  of  the 
Pope  is  not  a  free  man  who  can  act  according  to  his  honest 
conscience — he  is  a  miserable  slave,  obliged  to  obey  his  Church. 


84  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

Aud  that  Church  obli;^'eB  him,  under  iDain  of  eternal  damna- 
tion to  put  those  demoralizing  questions  to  the  old  and  the 
young,  to  men  and  to  women,  to  the  boy  and  the  girl  who 
come  to  confess  to  him. 

"  Has  not  the  whole  of  France  been  struck  with  horror  and 
disgust  at  the  declaration  made  by  the  noble  Catherine 
Cadi6re  and  her  numerous  young  female  friends,  against  their 
Father  Confessor,  John  B.  Girard,  a  French  Jesuit? 

"The  details  of  those  villainies  practised  by  that  Father 
Confessor  and  several  of  his  friends,  Jesuit  priests,  with  their 
penitents  are  such  that  I  cannot  tell  them  here. 

"  Who  among  you  has  not  read  the  history  of  Father  Achaz- 
ius,  Suijerior  of  the  nunnery  in  the  city  of  Duren,  France? 
The  number  of  his  victims  was  so  great,  and  their  ranks  in 
society  so  exalted  that  Naiwleon  thought  it  was  his  duty  to 
take  that  scandalous  affair  before  him. 

"The  way  this  holy  (?)  Father  Confessor  used  to  lead  the 
noblest  girls  and  married  women  as  well  as  the  nuns  in  the 
city  of  Aix  Lachapelle,  was  revealed  by  a  young  nun  who  had 
escaped  the  snares  of  that  confessor  and  had  married  a 
superior  officer  of  the  army  of  the  Emperor  of  France.  Her 
husband  thought  it  his  duty  to  direct  the  attention  of 
Napoleon  to  the  performances  of  that  priest,  through  the  con- 
fessional. But  the  investigations  which  were  directed  by  the 
state  councillor,  Leclere,  were  comjDromising  so  many  other 
priests  and  so  many  ladies  of  the  highest  ranks  of  society,  that 
the  Emperor,  though  not  over  scrupulous,  was  absolutely  dis- 
heartened and  feared  that  their  exposure  before  the  whole  of 
France  would  cause  the  renewal  of  the  awful  slaughters  of 
1702  and  1793,  when  so  many  Roman  Catholic  priests  had 
been  mercilessly  hung  or  shot  as  the  most  implacable  enemies 
of  morality  and  liberty. 

"He  abruptly  ordered  the  court  of  investigation  to  stop  the 
incjuiry,  under  the  pretense  of  saving  the  honour  of  so  many 
families  whose  single  and  married  women  had  been  the  vic- 
tims of  their  Father  Confessors.     He  thought  that  prudence 


A  Macedonian   Cry  from  Chicago  85 

and  shame  were  urging  him  not  to  lift  up  more  of  the  dark 
and  thick  veil  behind  which  the  Father  Confessors  conceal 
their  hellish  practises  with  their  fair  penitents.  The  Emperor 
of  France  found  it  was  enough  to  confine  Father  Achazius  and 
his  co=priests  in  a  dungeon  for  their  lives. 

"  But  it  is  not  only  the  Emperor  of  France  with  the  law 
courts  of  that  great  country  who  tells  you  and  me  that  Auri- 
cular Confession  is  the  most  demoralizing  and  degrading  in- 
stitution; the  Popes  of  Rome  themselves  have  been  forced 
by  the  providence  of  God  to  be  the  witnesses  of  that  demoral- 
izing agency.  Yes!  The  Popes  themselves  have  given  to 
the  world  the  most  unanswerable  proof  that  Auricular  Con- 
fession, far  from  helping  the  young  and  old  girls  and  married 
women,  is  a  school  of  perdition. 

"Not  very  long  after  Auricular  Confession  had  been  insti- 
tuted, rumours  of  the  most  horrible  scandals  between  the 
Father  Confessors  and  their  penitents,  spread  everywhere.  In 
order  to  put  a  stop  to  that  state  of  things  the  Pope,  Pius  IV., 
in  1560,  determined  to  make  a  public  enquiry  and  to  punish 
all  the  guilty  Father  Confessors,  who  would  be  accused  by 
their  fair  penitents.  A  bull  was  published  by  him,  by  which 
all  the  girls  and  married  women  who  had  been  misled  by 
their  Father  Confessors,  were  ordered  to  denounce  them.  And 
a  certain  number  of  high  church  ofiicers  of  the  Holy  Inqui- 
sition was  authorized  to  take  the  depositions  of  the  fallen 
penitents.  The  thing  was,  at  first,  tried  at  Seville,  one  of  the 
greatest  cities  of  Spain. 

"When  the  edict  was  first  published,  the  number  of  women 
who  felt  bound  in  conscience  to  go  and  depose  against  their 
Father  Confessors,  was  so  great  that,  though  there  were  thirty 
notaries,  and  as  many  inquisitors  to  take  the  depositions, 
they  were  unable  to  do  the  work  in  the  appointed  term. 
Thirty  days  more  were  given  them.  But  the  inquisitors 
were  so  overwhelmed  with  the  numberless  depositions  that 
another  period  of  time  of  the  same  length  was  given.  But 
this  again  was  found  insufficient!     In  the  end  it  was  found 


.86  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

thnt  the  numbor  of  priests,  who  had  their  penitents 
through  the  confessional,  was  so  great  that  it  was  impossible 
to  punish  them  all  without  destroying  the  church.  The  in- 
quiry was  given  up  and  the  guilty  confessors  remained  un- 
punished. Several  attempts  of  the  same  nature  have  been 
tried  by  other  Popes  with  the  same  effect. 

"  But  if  those  honest  attempts  on  the  part  of  some  well= 
meaning  Popes  to  punish  the  confessors  who  destroy  the  purity 
of  their  penitents  have  failed  to  touch  the  guilty  persons, 
there  are,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  infallible  witnesses 
to  tell  you  that  Auricular  Confession  is  nothing  else  but  a 
snare  to  the  confessor  and  his  penitents.  Yes,  those  bulls 
of  the  Popes  are  irrefragable  testimonies  that  Auricular  Con- 
fession is  one  of  the  most  powerful  inventions  of  the  devil 
to  corrupt  the  heart,  pollute  the  body,  and  damn  the  souls  of 
confessors  and  penitents. 

"Auricular  Confession  was  invented  by  the  priests  of 
Bacchus  five  hundred  years  before  Christ  came  to  save  the 
world  by  shedding  His  blood  for  poor  sinners.  Those 
priests  of  Bacchus  had  to  swear  never  to  marry,  just  as  the 
priests  of  Rome.  And  they  made  use  of  Auricular  Confes- 
sion, just  as  the  priests  of  Rome,  to  make  their  celibacy  a 
most  easy  thing  by  the  knowledge  they  have  of  the  personal 
disposition  and  weakness  of  their  penitents.  Through  the 
Auricular  Confession  they  know  those  who  are  strong  and 
those  who  are  weak  among  their  penitents — and  you  under- 
stand the  consequences  of  that  knowledge  by  your  own  com- 
mon sense. 

"When,  at  the  beginning  of  Christianity,  the  priests  of 
Bacchus  had  introduced  themselves  into  the  church  and 
tried  to  establish  Auricular  Confession,  they  were  coura- 
geously opposed  by  all  the  holy  Fathers  of  the  first  centuries 
of  Christianity.  St.  Bastile,  in  his  commentary  on  Psalm 
1  hi rty=^ seven,  speaking  against  Auricular  Confession  says:  '  I 
have  not  Ix'fore  the  world  to  make  a  confession  of  my  sins 
with  my  lips;  but  I  close  my  eyes  and  I  confess  my  sins  in 


A   Macedonian  Cry  from  Chicago  87 

the  secret  of  my  heart.  Before  Thee,  O  God,  I  pour  out  my 
sighs,  and  Thou  alone  art  the  witness;  my  groans  are  within 
my  soul:  there  is  no  need  of  many  words  to  confess  my  sins: 
sorrow  and  regret  are  the  best  confession.  Yes,  the  lamenta- 
tions of  the  soul,  which  Thou  art  pleased  to  hear,  are  the  best 
confession.' 

"St.  Chrysostom,  in  his  homily  '  De  Poenitentia,'  Vol.  4, 
Col.  901,  says:  '  You  need  no  witness  of  your  confession. 
Secretly  acknowledge  your  sins,  and  let  God  hear  them.' 

"In  one  of  his  homilies,  he  says:  'Therefore  I  beseech  you 
always  to  confess  your  sins  to  God  only.  I,  in  no  wise,  ask 
you  to  confess  them  to  me.  To  God  alone  you  must  show 
the  wounds  of  your  soul,  and  from  Him  alone  you  must  ex- 
pect the  cure.  Go  to  Him,  then,  and  you  shall  not  be  cast 
off,  but  healed.  For,  before  you  utter  a  single  word,  God 
knows  your  prayer.' 

"And  in  his  commentary  on  Hebrews  12,  he  further  says: 
'Let  us  not  be  content  with  calling  ourselves  sinners;  but 
let  us  examine  and  count  our  sins,  and  then,  I  do  not  tell  you 
to  go  and  confess  them  to  a  man,  according  to  the  caprice 
of  some:  but  I  will  say  to  you  with  the  prophet:  Confess 
your  sins  to  God:  acknowledge  your  iniquities  at  the  feet  of 
your  Judge:  pray  in  your  heart  and  your  mind,  if  not  with 
your  tongue,  and  you  shall  be  pardoned.' 

"In  his  homily  on  Psalm  1,  the  same  St.  John  Chrysostom 
says:  'Confess  your  sins  every  day  in  prayer.  Why  should 
you  hesitate  to  do  so?  I  do  not  tell  you  to  go  and  confess 
your  sins  to  a  man,  a  sinner  as  you  are  yourself,  who  might 
despise  you  if  he  knew  your  faults.  But  confess  your  sins  to 
God,  who  alone  can  forgive  them.' 

"The  same  St.  John  Chrysostom,  in  his  admirable  homily 
4,  says:  'Tell  me  why  should  you  be  ashamed  to  confess 
your  sins?  Do  we  compel  you  to  confess  them  to  a 
man  who  might  one  day  throw  them  in  your  face?  Are 
you  commanded  to  confess  them  to  some  of  your  equals  who 
could  publish  them  and  ruin  you?     What  we  ask  of  you  is 


88  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

simply  to  show  the  sore  s  of  your  soul  to  your  Lord  and 
Master,  who  is  also  your  friend,  your  guardian,  your 
physician.' 

"In  a  small  work  of  that  St.  John  Chrysostom, '  Cathechisis 
ad  Illuminandum, '  we  read  the  following  remarkable  words: 
'  What  we  should  most  admire  is  not  that  God  forgives  your 
sins,  but  that  He  does  not  disclose  them  to  anyone,  nor 
wish  us  to  do  so.  What  He  demands  of  us  is  to  confess  our 
transgressions  to  Him  alone  that  He  may  forgive  them.' 

"  St.  Augustin,  in  his  beautiful  homily  on  the  31st  Psalm, 
says:  '  I  shall  confess  my  sins  to  God,  and  He  will  pardon 
them  all.  And  such  confession  is  not  made  with  the  lips, 
but  with  the  heart  only.  I  had  hardly  opened  my  mouth  to 
confess  my  sins,  when  they  were  pardoned;  for  God  had  al- 
ready heard  the  voice  of  my  heart.' 

"I  would  keep  you  all  the  night  should  I  repeat  to  you  all 
that  the  holy  Fathers  have  said  to  show  us  that  Auricular 
Confession  was  not  practised  in  their  time  and  that  they 
were  opposed  to  it.  We  know  the  year  and  the  day  when  it 
became  a  dogma  in  the  Church  or  Rome,  as  we  know  the 
year  and  the  day  when  the  idolatry  of  the  wafer  god  and  the 
other  recent  idolatry  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  Mary 
-were  invented. 

"  When  our  Saviour  said  to  His  disciples,  '  What  ye  shall 
bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven:  and  what  ye  shall 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven;'  or  when  He  said, 
*  The  sins  you  forgive  on  earth  shall  be  forgiven  in  heaven, 
and  the  sins  you  shall  retain  on  earth  shall  be  retained  in 
heaven,'  He  was  speaking  of  the  sins  committed  against 
each  other. 

"St.  Peter  understood  Him  well,  when,  hearing  our  Saviour 
saying  admirable  words,  he  said:  'Good  Master,  how  many 
times  shall  I  forgive  my  brother  the  sins  he  has  committed 
against  me;  shall  it  be  seven  times?'  He  answered,  'I  do 
not  say  seven  times  but  seventy  times  seven.'  And  He 
finished  that  address  which  was  given  to  a  multitude  of  peo- 


A  Macedonian  Cry  from  Chicago  89 

pie,  by  saying:  '  So  will  my  Father  do  to  you,  if,  from  your 
heart,  you  do  not  forgive  the  sins  your  brother  has  committed 
against  you.'  Do  you  not  say  every  day  the  admirable 
prayer  which  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  has  brought  from 
heaven  for  every  one  of  us?  Well,  what  are  we  taught  to 
say  about  our  sins  in  that  prayer  that  God  may  forgive  them? 
'  Forgive  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  have  tres- 
passed against  us.' 

"You  see  our  Saviour  does  not  teach  us  to  say,  *  Forgive  our 
sins  as  we  confess  them  to  the  priest.'  No!  But  He  wants  us 
to  say,  '  Forgive  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  have 
trespassed  against  us,'  and  He  adds,  '  If  you  forgive  those 
who  have  offended  you,  I  will  forgive  your  sins.'  Yes,  if 
you  forgive  the  sins  of  your  neighbour  against  you,  God 
Almighty  will  forgive  your  sins.  It  is  Christ  Himself  who 
made  that  promise,  and  when  God  has  forgiven  you,  what  is 
the  use  of  going  to  a  priest  to  get  your  pardon? 

"  Has  our  dear  Saviour  told  us  to  go  and  confess  our  sins  to 
a  priest?  No,  never!  When  speaking  to  the  poor  sinners, 
Jesus  said  to  them,  '  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are 
heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest.'  'I  did  not  come  to 
save  the  righteous  but  the  sinners.' 

"  Our  Saviour  has  said  and  He  does  say  it  this  very  night 
to  every  one  of  us,  '  All  those  who  believe  in  Me  and  invoke 
My  name  shall  be  saved! '  Saved!  and  that  without  going  to 
confess  to  a  priest. 

"  Then  let  us  go  to  Him,  believing  in  His  love  and  His 
mercy,  and  invoking  His  name  this  very  night,  and  our  sins 
are  forgiven,  we  are  purified  and  saved  by  Him  alone! 

"  What  does  our  merciful  God  say  to  every  one  of  us  this 
very  night,  by  Isaiah?  'Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  ways 
and  the  unrighteous  man  his  thoughts;  let  him  return  to  the 
Lord  and  He  will  have  mercy  upon  him,  and  He  will  abun- 
dantly pardon.'      (Isa.  55:  7,  8.) 

"What  does  the  prophet  David  say?  '  I  confess  my  sins  unto 
thee,  Oh  my  God,  and  I  have  not  concealed  my  iniquities.     I 


QO  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

have  said    I  will   confess  my  iniquities  unto  the  Lord,  and 
Thou  forgavest  my  transgressions.'     (Ps.  30: 1-5.) 

"  What  does  our  beloved  Saviour  tell  you  and  me  this  very 
moment?    Please  listen  to  His  sweet,  saving,  merciful  words: 

"  '  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  even  so 
must  the  Son  of  man  be  lifted  up. 

" '  That  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  shall  not  perish  but 
have  eternal  life.'     (John  3: 15.) 

"  Read  the  fourteen  epistles  of  St.  Paul  and  you  will  see 
that  that  great  apostle  never  thought  of  Auricular  Confession. 
He  has  not  a  single  word  about  it.  When  speaking  to  the 
sinners  about  the  best,  the  only  way  to  be  reconciled  to  his 
God,  he  absolutely  ignored  that  panacea  of  the  Popes  of 
Rome.  He  always  sent  the  sinners  to  Jesus  and  Jesus  alone 
for  their  pardon. 

"And  St.  John,  that  beloved  one  of  Jesus,  what  does  he  say 
to  the  poor  sinners  to  get  their  pardon?  Here  are  his  words: 
*  These  things  we  write  you  that  your  joy  may  be  full.  This 
then  is  the  message  which  we  have  heard  of  Him,  and  I  de- 
clare unto  you,  that  God  is  light  and  that  in  Him  there  is  no 
darkness  at  all. 

" '  If  we  say  that  we  have  fellowship  with  Him,  and  walk  in 
darkness,  we  lie,  and  do  not  say  the  truth. 

"  'But  if  we  walk  in  the  light  as  He  is  in  the  light,  we  have 
fellowship  one  with  another,  and  the  blood  of  Jesus,  His  Son, 
cleanseth  us  from  all  sin. 

"  *  If  we  say  we  have  not  sinned  we  make  Him  a  liar  and  His 
Word  is  not  in  us. 

"'My  little  children,  these  things  I  write  unto  you  that  ye 
sin  not.  But  if  any  man  sin  we  have  an  advocate  with  the 
Father,  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous. 

"  'And  He  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and  not  for  ours 
only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world.'  (St.  John,  1st 
Ep.  Vr.  1.) 

"You  see  how  the  Apostle  John  has  absolutely  forgotten  to 
advise  the  sinners  to  go   and  ask  pardon  from  their  father 


A   Macedonian   Cry  from  Chicago  91 

confessors.  It  is  to  Jesus  and  Jesus  alone  that  he  sends 
them.  So  that  is  what  I  do,  to-day.  Let  us  go  to  Jesus,  let 
us  invoke  His  name,  repent  and  wash  our  souls  in  His 
blood.  Then  and  then  alone  we  shall  be  forgiven,  absolved 
and  purified  from  our  iniquities.  Yes,  let  us  go  to  Jesus  and 
Jesus  alone,  and  we  shall  obtain  pardon  and  peace  in  this 
world  and  eternal  life  in  the  next.  But  I  will  not  separate 
myself  from  you  without  asking  a  great  favour.  Please  let 
those  of  you  who  are  determined  never  to  go  to  confess  their 
sins  to  the  priests  of  Rome,  and  who  will  go  only  to  their 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ  for  their  pardon  raise  their  hands." 

And  with  tears  of  joy  I  saw  that  every  one  of  that  great 
multitude  had  forever  broken  the  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke 
of  the  Pope  to  accept  the  blessed  and  sweet  yoke  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Temptation 

I  was  not  a  little  surprised,  when,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
second  week  of  November,  1858,  on  opening  my  door  to  some 
one  that  was  knocking,  I  found  myself  face  to  face  with  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Maillonx,  the  grand  vicar  of  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
who  liad  led  Bishop  O'Regan  to  our  town  on  the  never^^to^^be^ 
forgotten  third  of  August  of  the  year  before. 

After  the  preliminary  exchange  of  expressions  of  common 
politeness,  he  asked  me  if  we  were  so  absolutely  alone  that 
he  could  give  me  a  confidential  message  from  the  Bishops  of 
Canada.  I  gave  him  the  assurance  that  we  were  absolutely 
alone,  and  that  nobody  would  hear  him,  beside  our  God,  myself, 
and  our  guardian  angels.  "  Then,"  he  said,  "  I  feel  happy  to  be 
the  bearer  of  a  message  which  I  hope  will  put  an  end  to  the 
awful  scandals  and  sad  divisions  of  the  last  two  years.     .     .     . 

"  You  have  not  forgotten  how  dear  you  were  to  those  Bishops, 
nor  how  kind  they  were  to  you.  After  the  Bishop  of  Quebec 
had  put  you  at  the  head  of  the  two  most  important,  beautiful 
and  rich  parishes  of  his  diocese,  Beauport  and  Kamouraska, 
the  Bishop  of  Montreal  gave  you  the  greatest  favour  ever 
given  to  priests  by  allowing  you  to  go  and  work  in  his  whole 
diocese,  whenever  you  liked,  in  union  with  his  curates.  That 
same  Bishop  of  Montreal,  after  having  obtained  from  the 
Pope  the  magnificent  crucifix  you  keep  as  a  public  token  of 
the  personal  esteem  of  the  vicar  of  Christ,  has  given  you  the 
official  title  of  '  Temperance  Apostle  of  Canada,'  not  only  that, 
but  it  is  from  his  advice  that  the  city  of  Montreal  has  given 
you  the  gold  medal  you  carry  on  your  breast. 

"  Well,  these  venerable  Bishops,  who  have  overwhelmed  you 

92 


The  Temptation  93 

with  honours  and  dignities,  when  you  were  working  with 
them,  have  sent  me  with  the  promise  that  they  will  do  still 
more  for  you,  if  you  come  back  and  submit  as  a  dutiful 
priest  to  our  holy  church!  Oh,  do  not  rebuke  them.  Do  not 
rebuke  me,  for  I  am  still  your  friend,  as  I  was  when  you  were 
in  our  midst.  Forget  and  forgive  what  may  have  been  wrong 
in  what  the  last  Bishop  of  Chicago,  as  well  as  myself,  may 
have  done  against  you.  Come  back,  dear  Father  Chiniquy, 
to  that  Catholic  Church  of  Canada,  which  has  taken  you  in 
triumph  from  the  lowest  parts  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river,  to 
the  shores  of  Lake  Huron.  We  are  ready  to  do  still  more  for 
you!  Come  and  dry  the  tears  which  are  flowing  on  so  many 
cheeks.  Come  back  and  rejoice  so  many  friendly  hearts 
which  are  so  sad  on  account  of  your  separation  from  us." 

When  saying  these  last  words,  he  took  my  hands  into  his, 
pressed  them  in  the  most  friendly  way,  and  bathed  them  with 
his  tears. 

I  would  not  be  honest  were  I  to  deny  that  his  words  and 
his  tears  made  a  profound  impression  on  me.  My  poor  hu- 
man and  sinful  heart  was  not  indifferent  to  the  honours,  dig- 
nities and  riches  which  were  there  in  store  for  the  rest  of  my 
life,  if  I  would  only  accept  the  message  of  peace  from  the 
Roman  Catholic  Bishops  of  Canada.  I  would  have  fallen  a 
prey  to  the  Tempter  had  not  the  dear  Saviour  come  to  my 
aid.  But  He  was  there  to  succour  and  save  His  poor,  weak, 
half-conquered  servant.  In  that  moment,  a  grand,  solemn, 
divine  spectacle  struck  the  eyes  of  my  soul.  I  saw  my  Sav- 
iour "  on  the  summit  of  that  high  mountain,  where  the  devil 
had  taken  Him  to  show  Him  all  the  kingdoms  and  the  glory 
of  the  world."  It  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  hearing  the 
devil's  voice,  saying,  "All  these  things  I  will  give  thee  if 
thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me."  But  the  answer 
whichT  had  heard  from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  thrilled  my  soul: 
"  Get  thee  hence,  Satan;  for  it  is  written:  Thou  shalt  worship 
the  Lord  thy  God  and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve."  As  a 
flash  of  lightning  it  passed  through  ray  whole  body,  trans- 


94  Forty   Years   in   the   Church   of   Christ 

forming,'  me  into  ciuito  a  new  bein^',  I  felt  strong  as  an  un- 
eontiuornble  fjfiant,  thouf^h  I  knew  that  the  strength  was  not  my 
own  strength,  and  I  anRv\'ered:  "My  dear  Mr.  Mailloux,  I  am 
nuu'h  obliged  to  you  for  the  interest  you  show  nie,  and  I 
appreciate  the  sincerity  of  your  motives  in  bringing  that 
message  from  the  Bishops  of  Canada.  I  would  surely  acceiDt 
your  friendly  otfer,  if  I  had  left  the  Church  of  Rome  from 
any  worldly  motives.  But  my  God  knows  that  it  is  only  for 
His  sake  and  to  obey  Him,  that  I  am  what  I  am  to=day. 
Please  pardon  me  the  disappointment  I  give  you.  Tell  the 
good  Bishops  of  Canada  that  I  am  very  grateful  for  this  last 
friendly  effort  they  make  to  jKn-suade  me  to  return  to  the 
Church  of  Rome;  but  tell  them  also  that  though  they  should 
offer  me  all  the  dignities  and  the  incalculable  treasures  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  I  would  not  take  them  in  exchange  for  the 
treasures  I  have  found  in  the  Bible."  And  when  saying 
these  last  words,  I  presented  him  with  the  Divine  Book. 

My  last  words  had  hardly  fallen  from  my  lips  when  his 
head  fell  into  his  hands,  and  he  wept  as  a  child  for  a  few 
minutes  which  seemed  to  me  an  hour,  for  I  felt  exceedingly 
sad  at  such  a  strange  and  unexi^ected  grief. 

After  he  had  eased  his  feelings  of  disapijointment  with  his 
tears,  he  raised  his  head  and  looked  at  me.  But  his  look  was 
not  the  same  as  before,  his  face  was  like  the  face  of  a  furi- 
ous Iroquois  (I  have  been  told  since  that  there  was  Iroquois 
blood  among  his  grandmothers).  That  Mr.  Mailloux  was  by 
nature  one  of  the  most  ugly  specimens  of  humanity  which 
can  be  seen.  His  lips,  naturally  too  thick  and  large  for  a 
man,  were  rendered  still  more  repulsive  by  a  large  black 
piece  of  raw  flesh  on  the  right  part  of  the  upper  lip;  his  eyes 
were  unsettled,  and  his  very  smile  was  nothing  but  au  idiotic 
grimace. 

Rising  suddeidy  on  his  feet,  he  made  a  step  towards  me 
and  brandishing  his  tists  near  my  face,  he  said:  "Miserable 
apostate!  You  sign  your  sentence  of  death  by  refusing  the 
message  of  peace  I  have  just  delivered  to  you.     You  know 


The  Temptation  95 

the  rights,  the  laws,  as  well  as  the  duties  of  our  holy  Church. 
Our  best  theologians  tell  us  that  you  have  no  right  to  live 
from  this  fatal  hour.  And  our  holy  Popes  in  the  compen- 
dium of  our  most  sacred  laws,  in  our  Jure  Canonico,  tell  us 
that  it  is  neither  a  murder  nor  a  sin  to  take  your  infamous 
life.  If  you  have  forgotten  those  laws,  there  will  be  some- 
one who  will  make  you  remember  them  very  soon.  You 
have  not  ten  days  to  live!  " 

And  his  rage  was  such  when  uttering  these  threats,  that 
there  was  foam  on  his  lips.  I  answered  him,  "  I  am  not  more 
shaken  by  your  bloody  threats  than  I  was  by  your  glittering 
promises  of  human  glory  and  honour.  I  am  the  servant  of  a 
God  who  can  protect  me  against  the  malice  of  all  the  Popes, 
the  priests,  and  the  slaves  of  Rome.  If  it  is  His  will  that 
my  blood  should  be  mixed  with  the  blood  of  the  millions 
you  have  already  slain,  I  am  ready  to  shed  it  for  the  cause 
of  the  Gospel." 

He  was  out  of  the  house  before  I  had  uttered  my  last 
words.  Taking  his  hat  and  cane  he  had  left  at  the  double 
quick,  and  he  soon  disappeared. 

Though  I  might  write  a  volume  to  tell  what  I  felt  when 
alone  after  that  dark  hour,  those  who  have  never  passed 
through  such  an  awful  experience  could  never  understand 
me. 

When  alone  I  fell  on  my  knees  to  pray  for  more  wisdom 
and  courage  at  the  approach  of  the  terrible  impending  con- 
flict. On  the  table  was  the  ninth  volume  of  the  theology  of 
St.  Thomas.  I  opened  it  and  read  that  the  Roman  Catholics 
had  as  much  right  to  kill  me  now,  as  to  kill  a  wolf  which  was 
crossing  their  fields  to  eat  their  sheep!  A  little  farther  on, 
on  the  same  table  was  the  "  Jure  Canonico "  where  the 
Church  of  Rome  says  that  it  is  neither  murder  nor  a  sin  to 
kill  me  now;  nay,  I  read  that  it  was  such  a  holy  action  to 
take  away  my  life  that  the  sins  would  be  forgiven  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  who  would  risk  his  life  in  taking  away 
mine. 


96  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

The  next  day,  ju.st  wheu  going  to  take  my  dinner,  two  of 
our  dear  converts  came  to  tell  me,  "  Dear  Mr.  Chiuiquy,  a 
rumour  is  spreading  this  morning  against  your  character, 
more  quickly  and  more  disastrously  than  the  xjrairie  fires 
which  came  so  near  destroying  the  village  some  years  ago. 
You  must  stop  it  at  once;  if  you  cannot  do  it,  we  come  to  tell 
you  in  the  name  of  many  that  you  will  have  to  leave  the 
colony." 

"  What  is  the  rumour"?  I  asked. 

"  You  know,  we  suppose,"  they  replied,  "  that  when  Mr. 
Mailloux  left  you  yesterday,  he  went  directly  to  John 
B^langer's  to  spend  the  night  and  say  his  mass  and  preach  to 
his  people,  this  morning.  Well,  the  few  Roman  Catholics  of 
the  place  went  to  spend  the  evening  with  him;  they  remained 
till  twelve  o'clock  hearing  the  ni  -st  shameful  and  scandalous 
stories  against  you.  Among  other  things  Mr.  Mailloux  told 
them  that  you  had  many  illegitimate  children  in  Canada; 
that  you  had  been  interdicted  and  forced  to  leave  the  coun- 
try on  that  account.  Those  who  were  there  last  evening,  to 
the  number  of  thirty,  are  publishing  that  story  this  morning 
against  you.  It  goes  with  the  rapidity  and  destructive  jwwer 
of  a  hurricane.  As  soon  as  we  hoard  it,  we  thought  it  was 
our  duty  to  come  and  acquaint  you  of  it.  Now  you  know 
what  you  have  to  do  through  respect  for  yourself  and  your 
numerous  friends  here."  I  answered  them,  "Dear  Mr. 
Mailloux  is  very  hard  on  his  old  friend!  He  ascribes  to  me 
gross  imnu)ralitie8.  Yesterday  he  told  me  that  I  should  soon 
be  murdered.  Now  I  see  that  before  taking  away  my  life  the 
Romanists  wish  to  take  away  my  honour.  With  the  help  of 
God, we  must  show  to  the  Roman  Catholic  ambassador,  once 
more,  that  he  is  not  in  the  land  of  the  Holy  Inquisition, 
where  injustice  and  cruelty  have  full  sway  against  those 
called  heretics.  There  are  laws  here  to  protect  our  honour  as 
well  as  oiir  life.  Please,  come  with  me  to  John  Belanger's. 
where  we  shall  probably  find  Mr.  Mailloux,  and  then  we  shall 
see  what  we  have  next  to  do  in  the  matter." 


The  Temptation  97 

Five  minutes  later,  we  were  face  to  face  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Mailloux,  whom  we  found,  as  we  expected,  in  the  company  of 
John  B61anger. 

Before  any  salutation,  I  said,  "  Mr.  Mailloux,  please  tell  me, 
before  these  two  witnesses  and  Mr.  B61anger  who  is  here,  if  you 
know  that,  when  in  Canada,  I  had  a  great  number  of  illegitimate 
children  and  if  you  have  ever  told  that  story  anywhere."  At 
this  question  he  became  as  pale  as  a  dead  man  and  with  a  trem- 
bling voice,  he  replied,  "  No,  sir,  I  have  never  said  such  a  thing. 
I  know  that  you  were  a  good  priest  and  that  you  never  com- 
mitted such  crimes."  These  words  were  hardly  uttered  when 
John  Belanger,  with  a  terrible  oath,  said,  "  Mr.  Mailloux,  are 
you  not  ashamed  to  deny  such  a  thing?  Last  night  in  my 
presence  and  in  the  presence  of  about  twenty  witnesses  you 
said  that  Father  Chiniquy  had  about  twelve  illegitimate 
children  in  Canada."  Mr.  Mailloux  then  replied,  "  I  did  not 
say  that  he  had,  I  said  that  I  had  been  told  that  he  had." 

Belanger,  with  another  oath,  said,  "No,  sir,  you  did  not  say 
that  you  were  told,  but  you  affirmed  that  it  was  so.  You 
ought  to  be  ashamed  to  deny  it,  this  morning.  Go  away,  and 
never  put  your  foot  in  my  house  any  more."  "Now,  Mr. 
Mailloux,"  I  replied,  "  Tell  me  before  these  people  if  you  be- 
lieve or  know  that  I  have  been  guilty  of  such  crimes  in 
Canada  as  you  allege."  He  answered,  "  No,  sir,  I  do  not 
believe  that.  I  believe  you  were  a  good,  honest  priest." 
"  Now,  sir,  can  you  say  in  my  face  that  I  have  been  inter- 
dicted and  turned  out  of  Canada  by  the  Bishops?"  With  a 
voice  half  suffocated  with  shame,  he  said,  "  I  cannot  say  that, 
for  I  know  the  contrary.  I  know  the  Bishop  has  given  you, 
as  a  token  of  his  esteem,  a  silver  chalice  to  say  mass."     Then 

Belanger  again  said,  with  another  oath:  "  You  are  a  d liar, 

for  you  told  us  last  night  that  the  Bishops  had  turned  Mr. 
Chiniquy  out  of  Canada."  "  Then,"  I  said,  "  that  is  all  I 
want  to  know.     Good-bye,  sir." 

When  coming  back  with  my  two  friends,  they  advised  me 
to  prosecute  him,  saying  that  they  could  find  at  least  thirty 


98  Forty   Years   in   the  Church   of  Christ 

witnesses  who  had  beard  him  say  it.  '"No,  my  friends,"  I 
answered,  "  this  is  not  the  Christian  way  to  act  with  my 
enemies.     I  prefer  to  follow  the  advice  of  Christ — to  forgive. 

"Besides  that,  such  calumnies  of  my  enemies  do  not  injure 
me  at  all.  They  do  more  harm  to  their  cause  than  to  ours. 
Those  calunniit'H  bear  their  refutation  with  themselves  and 
they  brin^  dis^n-ace  only  to  their  authors.  You  see  how  he 
was  confounded  and  trembling  in  my  presence,  and  how  he 
has  been  turiu'd  out  from  the  house  of  his  best  friend." 

Just  four  days  later  the  jud<j:e  of  Manteno,  a  town  six 
or  eight  miles  north  of  Bourbonnais  Grove,  came  to  visit  me. 
"I  think  it  is  my  duty,  my  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  he  said,  "  to 
come  and  tell  you  that  there  is  a  formidable  conspiracy 
among  the  priests  and  the  Catholic  people  of  Bourbonnais  to 
take  away  your  honour.  Yesterday,  I  was,  in  my  capacity  of 
judge,  the  witness  of  a  fact  that  proves  it.  You  know 
Madam  Brosseau,  who  has  the  reputation  of  being  the 
handsomest  lady  of  the  town?  Well,  yesterday  when  her 
husband  came  home  for  his  dinner,  he  found  his  wife  in  tears 
in  her  parlour.  '  What  is  the  matter  with  you,  my  dear,  are 
you  sick?'  'No,  my  dear  husband,  I  am  not  sick  but  I  am 
sad,'  she  answered.  '  I  have  on  my  conscience  a  burden  which 
is  heavier  than  a  mountain.  I  ought  to  have  revealed  it  to 
you  long  ago,  but  I  never  dared.  You  remember  when  you 
were  in  California  some  years  ago,  Father  Chiniquy  was  our 
priest  in  Bourbonnais,  and  I  had  to  go  to  confess  to  him.  But 
instead  of  acting  with  me  as  an  honest  priest,  he  did  things 
which  I  am  ashamed  to  repeat:  but  now  that  he  is  an  apos- 
tate, and  tries  to  destroy  our  holy  religion,  I  think  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  reveal  the  truth.'  Brosseau  of  course  was  furious 
against  you.  He  said  to  his  wife,  'I  must  have  that  infamous 
Chiniquy  punished.  I  am  just  going  to  Judge  Baby  to  know 
the  best  way  to  prosecute  him.' 

"  When  with  me  Brosseau  related  the  story  he  had  heard  from 
his  wife.  I  told  him  he  was  doing  well  to  punish  you  as  you 
deserved,  but,  I  said,  '  I  must  go  with  you  to  get  tlie  deposi- 


The  Temptation  99 

tion  of  your  wife.'  When  with  her,  in  the  presence  of  her 
husband,  she  not  only  repeated  what  she  had  told  him,  but 
she  added  many  things  more.  I  congratulated  her  on  her 
courage,  and  I  said,  *  Madam,  I  will  now  write  down  your 
deposition  in  the  presence  of  your  husband.  Give  the  de- 
tails of  Chiniquy's  infamous  conduct,  for  it  will  be  necessary 
to  have  that  presented  to  the  court.'  And  I  began  to  write. 
I  covered  three  sheets  with  the  most  infamous  acts  that  a  man 
can  do  and  that  a  woman  can  reveal.  Then  I  took  from  my 
pocket  this  Bible,  and  I  said,  '  Now  madam,  you  must  swear 
on  this  Bible  that  what  you  have  just  said  is  the  truth,  for, 
as  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  I  must  have  your  oath  before  tak- 
ing another  step  in  this  matter.'  Looking  at  me  with  a  dis- 
tressed countenance,  and  trembling  from  head  to  foot,  she  ex- 
claimed: '  Is  it  possible  that  I  will  have  to  swear  to  these 
things?'  'Yes,  madam,  we  cannot  take  another  step  in  this 
matter  without  your  oath.' 

"  Then  bursting  into  tears  and  concealing  her  face  in  her 
hands,  she  exclaimed,  'I  cannot  swear  that.'  'Why  not?' 
I  replied.  'Because  it  is  a  lie  from  beginning  to  end,'  she 
said.  With  a  terrible  imprecation,  her  husband  said,  '  Why 
have  you  told  us  such  abominations  against  Father  Chiniquy 
when  it  is  not  true?'  'Because  my  Father  Confessor,  the 
last  time  I  went  to  confess,  asked  me  to  do  that,'  she  said. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Chiniquy,"  said  the  judge,  "  if  I  had  any  ad- 
vice to  give  you,  it  would  be  to  prosecute  the  priest  at  once." 

I  answered,  "No.  I  prefer  to  follow  the  advice  of  my 
Saviour.  When  I  left  the  Church  of  Kome,  I  knew  the  cost. 
The  prophecy  of  Christ  must  be  fulfilled  in  me  as  it  has  been 
in  those  who  have  fought  Kome  before  me.  Our  Saviour 
warned  us  of  these  things  when  He  said: 

"  '  Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile  and  persecute  you, 
and  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely  for  My 
sake.  Rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad:  for  great  is  your  re- 
ward in  heaven:  for  so  persecuted  they  all  the  prophets  which 
were  before  you.'" 


CHAPTER  VII 

Father  Brunet.     A  Prisoner  in  my  Steaxi 

Cur  am  habe  boni  nominis 

The  calumnies  of  the  Reverend  Mailloux  and  Mrs.  Bros- 
seau  were  still  rinp;inu;  in  my  ears  when  a  new  storm  burst 
on  my  head  which  would  surely  have  destroyed  me  had  not 
my  merciful  God  come  to  my  help. 

A  revival  (a  retreat)  had  been  preached  in  Bourbonnais 
by  Reverends  Mailloux  and  Brunet  previous  to  their  depar- 
ture for  Canada,  and  the  whole  population  had  been  induced 
to  go  and  confess  their  sins  to  those  two  priests.  Among 
the  sins  they  were  asked  to  confess  was  that  of  having  gone 
to  hear  the  address  of  Father  Chiniquy.  They  were  then 
warned  against  committing  that  sin  any  more  by  being 
assured  that  Chiniquy  was  an  apostate — a  monster.  To  this 
many  times  the  penitent  replied:  "We  know  nothing  bad 
about  Father  Chiniquy,  except  that  he  has  left  our  holy 
church,  but  this  is  his  business.  We  do  not  want  to  follow 
him.  How  can  we  promise  never  to  speak  to  him,  when  he 
is  in  our  midst,  and  that  very  often  our  daily  business 
obliges  us  to  meet  him  for  advice  and  often  for  help." 

To  this  the  Father  Confessor  had  invariably  replied: 
"  Chiniquy  is  an  excommunicated  priest;  he  is  a  monster,  he 
has  set  fire  to  your  church  and  turned  it  into  ashes." 

"  But  how  do  you  know  that  it  is  Father  Chiniquy  who 
has  set  fire  to  our  church?  "  generally  replied  the  penitent. 

"  You  must  believe  me,  as  I  am  your  Father  Confessor," 
had  answered  Father  Brunet  .  .  .  "I  advise  you  even  to 
tell  it  to  your  neighbours  and  friends  that  they  may  avoid 
his  company,  that  he  may  be  forced  to  leave  the  place." 

100 


Father  Brunet.     A  Prisoner  in    My  Stead      loi 

A  goodly  number  of  those  honest,  though  cruelly  deceived 
countrymen,  left  the  confessional  box  indignant  at  the  malice 
and  calumny  of  their  Father  Confessor  They  spoke  to  each 
other  of  the  evident  plot  of  those  priests  to  destroy  me,  and 
they  came  to  the  honest  conclusion  that  their  duty  was  to 
warn  me. 

Remembering  that  my  Saviour,  when  struck  by  the  coward 
officer,  had  answered  him:  "If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear  wit- 
ness of  the  evil:  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  Me"  (John 
17:23),  and  that  Paul  had  appealed  to  Caesar,  I  felt  that  it 
was  not  only  my  right  but  my  duty  to  bring  my  implacable, 
cruel  and  cowardly  enemy  before  my  country  to  ask  him 
to  prove  what  he  had  said,  or  to  repair  the  injury  he  had 
caused  me  to  suffer.  I  could  not  do  the  work  which  the 
good  Master  had  entrusted  to  my  feeble  hands  without  a 
good  name. 

The  next  day  more  than  one  hundred  carriages  were  at  the 
door  of  the  parsonage  of  Bourbonnais  in  order  to  accompany 
Father  Brunet  in  triumph  to  the  depot  of  Kankakee,  where 
he  was  to  take  the  train  for  Montreal.  Numberless  gay  ban- 
ners were  floating  to  the  breeze,  with  the  mottoes:  "Honour 
to  Father  Brunet,"  "  May  God  bless  Father  Brunet,"  etc. 

The  good  (?),  the  holy  (?)  Father  Brunet  was  sitting  at  a 
rich  table  loaded  wnth  the  most  exquisite  dishes,  and  sur- 
rounded by  many  priests  and  friends  gathered  there  to  thank 
and  honour  him  for  the  glorious  battles  he  had  fought,  and 
the  glorious  victories  he  had  gained  against  the  infamous 
apostate,  Chiniquy,  the  last  six  months.  Two  o'clock  had 
just  struck.  It  was  the  moment  the  choice  and  excellent 
desert  was  being  brought  before  the  holy  (?)  priests. 

Suddenly  the  door  of  the  dining==room  is  rudely  opened, 
and  a .  tall  man,  with  a  most  threatening  face,  steps  in. 
Without  saluting  anybody,  he  glances  severely  over  the 
whole  company,  and  with  a  stern  voice,  says:  "  Is  Father 
Brunet  here?" 

Who  was  that  strange  personage  whose  rude  appearance 


I02  Forty   Years  in   the    Church   of  Christ 

and  stentorian  voice  was  chilling  every  heart?  It  was  the 
Kankakee  sheriff,  I.  Burns. 

His  first  question,  "Is  Father  Brunet  here?"  having 
receivi'd  no  answer,  he  raised  his  stern  voice  and  said,  "Is 
Father  Brunet  here?"  With  a  trembling,  stammering  voice, 
and  with  cold  drops  of  sweat  rolling  on  his  forehead,  Father 
Brunet  answered,  "  Yes,  sir.  Father  Brunet  is  here;  I  am 
Father  Brunet." 

Quick  as  lightning  the  heavy  hand  of  the  sherifP  was  on 
the  shoulder  of  the  confounded  and  trembling  priest,  with 
this  sharj)  sentence:  "You  are  my  prisoner;  come  at  once  to 
the  court=house.  I  will  put  you  into  gaol  if  you  do  not  give 
me  securities  for  $10,000  for  your  appearance  at  the  next 
court,  to  show  you  are  not  guilty  of  a  great  crime  which  is 
laid  to  your  charge." 

And  the  worthy  ambassador  of  Rome  had  to  leave  there 
and  then  his  delicious  preserves  and  follow  the  sherifP  to  the 
court-house. 

The  reader  can  understand  the  dismay  of  the  multitude, 
who  had  come  there  with  their  fine  carriages  and  their  ban- 
ners of  triumph  flying  to  the  breeze,  when  they  saw  their 
Father  Confessor  in  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  taking  the 
road  to  the  gaol.  This  was  an  hour  of  distress  and  desola- 
tion such  as  the  poor  Catholics  of  Bourbonnais  had  never 
before  seen,  and  which  they  will  never  forget. 

To  make  a  long  story  short,  I  must  say  that  my  prosecution 
of  Father  Burnet  began  the  15th  November,  1858,  and  was 
ended  only  the  23rd  April,  1861,  when  he  was  sent  to  gaol 
for  having  refused  to  pay  the  $4,625  which  the  jury  had 
condemned  him  to  pay  for  his  lying  slanders  against  me. 

He  had  brought  seventy-two  witnesses  to  prove  that  I  had 
set  fire  to  their  church,  but  it  became  evident  to  the  jury  that 
every  one  of  those  witnesses  perjured  himself  to  please  and 
obey  his  Father  Confessor, 

When  asked  the  question:  "Did  you  see  Mr.   Chiniquy 


Father  Brunet.     A  Prisoner  in    My   Stead      103 

when  he  set  fire  to  your  church?"  they  all  answered  "  No"; 
and  when  asked  if  they  were  there  on  the  spot  when  Mr. 
Chiniquy  destroyed  your  church,  they  all  said  "No";  and 
when  asked,  "  Where  were  you  when  your  church  was 
burned?"  the  greater  part  of  them  answered,  "  We  were  at 
home";  and  when  asked  to  say  if  their  homes  were  near  the 
church,  they  answered  "No";  and  when  asked  to  say  the 
distance  from  their  home  to  the  church,  two  answered,  "Three 
miles,"  and  one,  "  Seven  miles."  And  when  the  judge  him- 
self asked  those  witnesses  how  they  could  swear  that  Mr. 
Chiniquy  had  set  fire  to  their  church  when  they  were  so  far 
away  from  the  spot,  they  answered,  "  We  know  it  because  our 
holy  Confessor  has  told  us  that  it  was  so  and  we  have  sworn 
that  it  was  because  our  holy  Father  Confessor  has  told  us  that 
it  was  our  duty  to  swear  as  we  have  done."  The  Protestant 
judge,  as  well  as  the  members  of  the  jury  who  heard  those 
testimonies  have  told  me  many  times  since  that  they  would 
never  have  believed  me,  had  I  told  them  the  degree  of 
ignorance,  immorality  and  dishonesty  which  are  the  great 
result  of  Auricular  Confession. 

The  fact  is  that  that  suit  has  done  more  than  all  my  ad- 
dresses and  books  to  show  the  people  of  Illinois  that  Auri- 
cular Confession  is  one  of  the  masterpieces  of  the  devil  to 
corrupt  the  hearts  of  men,  enslave  their  intelligence,  and 
damn  their  souls. 

The  day  after  poor  Father  Brunet  was  put  in  gaol,  I  was 
crossing  one  of  the  streets  of  Kankakee  city  when  a  Roman 
Catholic  lady  met  me.  She  was  just  coming  from  a  visit  to 
the  unfortunate  prisoner  to  whom  she  had  brought  some  com- 
forting words,  I  suppose,  with  a  basket  filled  with  comforting 
delicacies. 

Furious  with  me,  she  said  with  a  very  loud  voice,  "  Shame 
upon  you  for  sending  to  goal  such  a  holy  priest! " 

I  answered  her,  "It  is  not  I  who  has  sent  him  to  gaol,  it  is 
the  people  of  Illinois  through  the  judge  and  the  jury." 


I04 


Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 


"Shame  upon  you,"  she  replied  again,  "but  if  you  think 
that  you  have  made  that  holy  priest  miserable  by  you  malice, 
you  are  mistaken,  for  he  is  happy." 

'•Who  told  you,  madam,  that  he  is  happy,"  I  asked. 

"He  has  just  told  me  so  himself,  yes,  as  he  said  to  me  just 
a  moment  a^^o,  'I  am  glad  to  suffer  for  my  holy  church,  for 
it  is  for  the  sake  of  our  holy  religion  that  I  came  here  to  fight 
against  that  apostate  priest.'  " 

"Well!  well!  madam,"  I  replied,  "I  thank  you  for  that 
information,  it  is  really  precious  to  me." 

Then  entering  the  store  of  a  friend  I  asked  for  a  pen  and 
some  paper  to  \yrite  the  following  letter: 

"Rev.  Father  Brunet: — 

"I  am  just  receiving  the  news  which  does  exceedingly 
gladden  me.  A  lady  who  has  visited  you  has  just  assured 
me  that  you  were  happy  to  be  where  your  are.  Then  allow 
me  to  tell  you  that  there  are  two  men  very  happy,  to-day,  in  Kan- 
kakee, for  I  am  also  happy  to  see  you  there  in  that  very  gaol 
where  you  wanted  to  send  me,  by  inventing  the  calumny  that 
I  set  fire  to  the  church  of  Bourbonnais. 

"Wishing  you  to  continue  to  be  happy  to  the  end  of  your 
twelve  years  of  reflections, 

I  am,  your  devoted, 

(Signed)  C.  Chiniquy." 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  good  priest  of  Rome  was  not 
to  be  very  long  happy.  There  was  a  multitude  of  rats  in  that 
gaol  which  were  troubling  his  peace  during  the  day  and  pre- 
vented him  from  sleeping  during  the  night  by  mercilessly 
biting  him. 

He  then  began  to  think  how  he  could  manage  to  get  out  of 
this  new  and  happy  home. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  the  reader  to  know  that  the  order 
of  the  Oblats,  to  whom  Father  Brunet  belonged,  had  made 
a  successful  appeal  to  the  French  Canadian  Catholics  and  had 
received  the  whole  sum  of  money  which  he  was  ordered  to 
pay  me  by  the  jury,  as  an  indemnity  for  his  calumnies,  but 


Father  Brunet       A  Prisoner  in   My   Stead     105 

the  order  of  the  Oblats  and  Father  Brunet  preferred  rather 
to  commit  a  new  crime  than  to  give  the  reparation  ordered  by 
the  court  to  me.  They  gave  the  money  to  a  band  of  Roman 
Catholic  brigands,  some  say  to  the  sheriff  who  had  succeeded 
Mr.  Burns,  and  during  a  stormy  night,  the  doors  of  the  jail 
were  broken  and  the  black  bird  escaped  to  Canada,  where  he 
published  that  during  a  dark  night,  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary 
dressed  in  a  white  robe  had  come  to  the  door  of  his  gaol, 
opened  it,  and  said  to  him,  "  My  dear  son,  come  out! "  and  he 
had  gone  out  in  that  miraculous  way. 

Since  the  day  that  my  merciful  God  has  opened  my  eyes 
to  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome  and  given  me  the  evident 
mission  to  show  the  dark  system  of  lies,  duplicity,  corruption 
of  that  masterpiece  of  Satan,  nothing  has  helped  me  more  to 
fulfil  my  mission  than  the  calumnies,  the  perjuries,  the  rob- 
beries and  the  ridiculous  fables  to  which  Rome  has  had  re- 
course, to  fight  her  battle  with  me,  around  Father  Brunet. 

There  is  no  exaggeration  in  saying  that  more  than  one 
thousand  honest  Roman  Catholics  are  now  walking  in  the 
blessed  light  of  the  Gospel  from  what  they  have  heard  with 
their  own  ears  and  seen  with  their  own  eyes  in  that  celebrated 
suit;  for  that  suit  has  been  a  truly  celebrated  one  in  Illinois. 

And  let  those  who  suspect  that  we  are  exaggerating,  when 
we  say  that  the  action  of  Father  Brunet  was  endorsed  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  clergy,  read  in  the  "  Repertoire  g6n6ral  du 
clerg6  canadien,  par  Mgr  Cyprien  Tanguay,"  page  251,  and 
they  will  find  in  a  note  at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  these  very 
words:  "  Le  p^re  Brunet  combatit  pour  la  foi  avec  un  z^le 
tout  apostolique — et  ses  combats  lui  valurent  six  mois  d'  incar- 
ceration dans  une  prison  malsaine  des  Etats-Unis."  Transla- 
tion: "  Father  Brunet  fought  with  a  truly  apostolic  zeal  and 
his  battles  gained  him  six  months  confinement  in  an  un- 
healthy prison  of  the  United  States." 

Here  is  a  man  who  invented  the  vilest  calumnies  against 
an  old  friend,  who  had  seventy=two  false  witnesses  perjure 
themselves  to  sustain  his  calumnies,  who  used  the  confes- 


io6  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

sional  as  means  of  spreading  his  calumnies,  who  got  several 
thousand  doUnrs  from  him  whom  he  had  injured,  by  keeping 
the  fine  to  which  he  had  been  condemned,  who  broke  the 
door  of  the  prison  where  justice  held  him  for  his  public 
crimes,  and  yet  this  very  same  man  is  canonized  as  a  saint 
and  offered  as  a  model  of  apostolic  zeal  to  the  Canadian 
people! 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Famine 

The  years  of  1858  and  1859  were  disastrous  ones  for  our 
colony  at  St.  Anne.  Two  terrible  frosts  in  the  summer  of 
1858  and  a  real  deluge  of  three  weeks  in  1859  had  completely 
destroyed  our  crops,  on  the  low  lands. 

In  order  not  to  perish,  we  were  forced  to  mortgage  our 
lands  and  borrow  money  from  land  sharks,  who  made  us  pay 
between  20  and  30  per  cent,  interest. 

Of  all  the  words  of  human  language,  the  most  terrible  is 
famiiie. 

The  first  Sabbath  in  May,  1859,  a  young  woman  had  dropped 
dead,  when  on  her  way  to  church.  In  the  afternoon,  when 
in  the  midst  of  her  desolated  family,  I  learned  from  her 
husband  that,  for  the  last  three  months,  he  and  his  wife  had 
not  taken  more  than  a  meal  a  day  in  order  to  prevent  their 
three  children  from  starving! 

It  was  evident  that  she  had  died  from  want  of  food.  No 
words  can  tell  my  desolation  in  those  dark  days — the  darkest 
days  of  my  life. 

In  order  to  help  my  poor  people  as  much  as  possible,  I  had 
not  only  sold  my  two  horses  and  my  buggy,  but  I  had  mort- 
gaged my  watch,  my  gold  medal,  everything  I  had,  even  my 
house  and  my  dear  chapel,  to  get  food  and  clothing  for  the 
most  destitute. 

More  than  that,  I  had  borrowed  from  several  brokers  about 
$1,000  for  which  I  had  given  what  is  called  "Cutthroat 
mortgages,"  relying  on  several  sums  of  money  due  to  me, 
to  meet  those  notes  when  due.  But  when  the  day  of  pay- 
ment had  come,  I  had  not  been  able  to  collect  a  single  cent 
to  pay  them. 

107 


Io8  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

The  priests  of  Rome  foreseeing  that,  had  bought  my  notes 
with  the  hope  of  niinintc  me  and  putting  an  end  to  what  they 
called  our  scandalous  schism. 

At  their  demand,  the  sheriff  came  and  seized  everything 
which  could  fall  into  his  hand  in  order  to  sell  them  at  the 
door  of  the  court-house  of  Kankakee  city.  My  last  cow  was 
taken,  my  chairs  and  table,  the  piano,  even  my  bed  and  my 
library  were  taken  from  me.  I  could  see  everything  go  with 
dry  eyes  and  unmoved  heart  when  I  remembered  for  what 
cause  I  was  losing  them.  But  I  could  not  retain  my  tears 
when  I  saw  my  dear  and  precious  books  go.  Laying  my  hand 
on  my  big  Bible,  I  said  to  the  Sheriff:  "  I  hope  you  will  allow 
me  to  keep  this  Bible  as  the  only  thing  which  I  possess  to- 
day," and  he  granted  me  that  favour. 

That  night,  having  no  bedstead,  not  even  a  pillow  to  rest 
my  head  on,  I  lay  down  on  the  naked  floor.  But  I  am  mis- 
taken— I  had  a  pillow!  Yes,  and  the  most  precious  joillow 
upon  which  a  man  has  ever  rested  his  head — my  Bible!  I 
never  got  such  a  sweet  rest  than  during  that  never=to=be* 
forgotten  night  when  my  head  rested  on  the  Divine  Book! 

The  next  morning  my  knees  were  the  only  table  I  had  to 
hold  my  dry  and  hard  biscuits.  But  if  I  could  not  give  a 
very  rich  food  to  my  body,  it  was  not  so  with  my  soul,  for  I 
fed  it  with  the  Bread  of  Life.     I  read  in  my  Bible: 

"  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasui'es  upon  earth  where 
moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt  and  where  thieves  break  through 
and  steal,  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven, 
where  neither  moth  nor  rust  corrupts  and  where  thieves  do 
not  break  through,  nor  steal." 

After  my  frugal  breakfast,  I  went  to  the  postoffice.  There 
was  only  one  letter  to  my  address,  but,  to  my  great  surprise, 
it  had  the  mark  of  Ohnrlottetown,  Prince  Edward  Island,  a 
place  from  which  not  a  line  had  yet  ever  been  addressed  to 
me.  When  I  opened  it,  a  little  piece  of  paper  fell  on  the 
floor.  I  picked  it  up,  and,  to  my  great  surprise  and  joy,  that 
little  piece  of  paper  was  a  check  for  $500. 


The   Famine  109 

Here  are  the  contents  of  that  short  letter,  signed  by  the 
"Rev.  George  Sutherland:  "We  have  heard  of  your  heroic 
battle  against  our  common  foe — Rome.  You  must  not  be 
left  alone  when  so  bravely  fighting  in  the  gap.  ...  A 
few  Gospel  friends  in  Charlottetown  and  vicinity,  send  you 
this  small  sum  to  strengthen  your  hands  and  cheer  up  your 
heart.  Please  accept  it  with  the  assurance  of  our  sympathies 
and  admiration.  Truly  yours,  George  Sutherland."  Five 
hundred  dollars  was  surely  a  big  sum  in  itself,  and  I  had  to 
bless  my  merciful  God  for  it.  But  what  was  it,  when  I  was 
surrounded  by  at  least  500  starving  families?  It  hardly 
lasted  two  days ! 

When  this  Providential  help  was  gone,  and  I  felt  I  had 
nothing  but  my  tears  to  give  to  my  people,  the  thought  came 
to  my  mind  that  my  duty  was  to  go  to  some  place  not  visited 
by  the  calamities  which  had  ruined  us,  and  ask  the  Christian 
people  to  come  to  our  help, 

I  proposed  that  plan  to  the  Kev.  Mr.  Staples,  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Kankakee  city.  Having  approved 
it,  he  gave  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Rev.  John 
Leyburn,  D.  D.,  then  editor  of  the  Presbyterian  of  Phila- 
delphia, Pennsylvania,  and,  without  any  delay,  I  started  for 
that  distant  city. 

Having  secured  a  decent  room  in  a  respectable  hotel,  I  went 
to  the  office  of  the  Presbyterian,  and  presented  my  letter  of 
introduction  to  its  editor.  He  received  me  as  politely  as  he 
could,  but  I  felt  him  as  cold  as  an  iceberg. 

It  was  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  was  begging.  As  a  priest 
of  Eome,  I  had  always  plenty,  not  only  for  myself,  but  for 
all  those  who  were  in  need  around  me. 

After  reading  my  letter,  he  said:  "It  is  a  real  misfortune 
that  Mr.  Staples  has  addressed  you  to  me,  and  advised  you  to 
come  to  Philadelphia  for  help.  Not  a  month  ago,  another 
priest  of  Rome,  a  fine  looking  man,  came  to  me  saying,  that 
he  was  disgusted  with  the  errors  of  Rome  and  desired  to  be- 
come a  Protestant.     I  received  him  well,  and,  with  many  of 


iio  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

the  ministers  of  the  city,  I  gave  him  a  helping  hand.  We 
even  introduced  him  to  our  families,  and  did  all  in  our  power 
to  make  his  new  existence  as  comfortable  as  possible.  But 
we  soon  found,  at  our  cost,  that  he  was  the  vilest  of  men,  a 
beastly  drunkard,  a  thief  and  the  most  impudent  liar  we  ever 
met.  Now,  my  dear  sir,  you  understand  that  your  coming  to 
us  so  soon  fifter  that  ex^priest,  is  a  most  uufortuunte  thing 
for  you.  However,  I  do  not  want  to  discourage  or  rebuff 
you,  the  dishonesty  of  that  priest  does  not  mean  that  you  are 
also  a  dishonest  man,  but  you  are  intelligent  enough  to  un- 
derstand that  it  puts  a  mountain  of  prejudices  against  you 
and  your  mission  of  charity  towards  your  starving  people. 
Then  do  not  raise  your  expectations  of  success  too  high,  but 
as  you  come  to  me  to  get  my  advice,  I  will  give  it. 

"  First.  To  day,  go  to  the  noonday  prayer^meeting,  at 
Sansom  Street  Church,  and  introduce  yourself  to  the  great 
crowd  of  Christians  you  will  meet  there,  giving  your  name, 
position,  trials,  as  well  as  you  can;  but  be  as  short  as  possible 
and  throw  yourself  entirely  into  the  hands  of  God  for  the 
result." 

Just  at  twelve,  I  was  in  one  of  the  front  pews  of  the  vast 
and  absolutely  crowded  church,  and  as  soon  as  I  could  find 
my  opportunity,  I  was  on  my  feet  to  speak  on  the  first  six 
verses  of  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  John. 

But  I  had  not  yet  entered  into  my  subject,  when  the  presi- 
dent rang  his  bell  to  stop  me,  saying,  "  We  are  not  allowed 
here  to  speak  more  than  five  minutes." 

Disapi)ointed  and  confused,  I  had  to  sit  down  with  the  con- 
viction that  I  had  made  a  fool  of  myself  before  that  refined 
English-speaking  multitude.  I  could  see  on  the  faces  of 
many  the  badly  concealed  expressions  of  pity  for  my  poor 
broken  English  language.  My  conviction  was  that  this,  my 
first  appearance  before  the  Philadelphia  people,  was  a  com- 
plete failure.  In  the  afternoon  with  a  heavy  heart,  and  con- 
fused mind,  I  went  again  to  Rev.  Dr.  Leyburn's  oflice.  He 
seemed  disappointed  and  displeased  to  see  me  again.     But 


The  Famine  1 1 1 

when  extending  his  hand  to  shake  mine,  he  kindly  said:  "I 
was  much  vexed  by  the  rudeness  of  our  president  at  the 
noonday  prayer=meeting  in  so  abruptly  silencing  you  before 
you  had  any  reasonable  time  to  present  your  subject.  As 
you  are  a  stranger,  and  a  Frenchman,  not  yet  quite  familiar 
with  our  English  language,  he  ought  to  have  given  you  at 
least  ten  minutes  to  speak.  But  do  not  be  discouraged.  The 
Lord  rules  behind  the  darkest  clouds.  What  do  you  propose 
to  do  now  after  your  first  trial  has  been  such  a  sad  disappoint- 
ment?" 

I  answered:  "My  object  in  coming  again  to  you,  this 
afternoon,  is  to  ask  you  to  give  me  the  addresses  of  your 
principal  ministers,  with  a  few  kind  words  to  each  of  them 
from  you,  asking  them  to  allow  me  to  present  to  them  my 
case  and  the  terrible  distress  of  my  people." 

'*  Well,  my  dear  sir,  the  only  thing  I  can  do  is  to  give  you 
the  names  and  addresses  of  our  principal  ministers.  But 
you  must  give  me  your  word  of  honour  not  to  say  that  I  have 
done  that.  You  must  not  even  mention  my  name.  How  can 
I  give  you  the  letter  you  ask  when  you  are  a  perfect  stranger 
to  me?  Here  is  the  letter  of  introduction  sent  to  me  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Staples.  Take  that  letter  with  you  as  an  introduction 
to  the  ministers  you  want  to  visit.  It  is  the  only  thing  I  can 
do  for  you  just  now.  May  God  help  you,"  and  with  these 
words,  he  dismissed  me  as  abruptly  as  if  I  had  the  smallpox 
with  me. 

It  was  too  late  to  begin  my  visits  that  afternoon.  There  were 
no  street  cars  in  those  days,  and  I  had  only  $4  in  my  pocket 
to  pay  my  hotel  expenses;  it  was  impossible  to  think  of 
taking  a  carriage.  The  whole  traveling  from  minister  to 
minister  was  to  be  a  walking  affair.  And  in  that  immense 
city  of  Philadelphia,  many  of  those  ministers  were  at  a  great 
distance  from  each  other.  When  alone  in  my  room,  I  had 
plenty  of  time  to  consider  the  difficulties  which  were  before 
me.  At  every  part  of  the  horizon  towards  which  I  turned 
my  mind,  I  could  see  nothing  but  dark  clouds,  unsurmount- 


112  Forty   Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

able  difficulties  and  obstacles  of  the  most  formidable  nature. 
But  the  more  I  saw  there  was  no  hope  of  success  from  men, 
the  more  I  felt  the  need  of  going  to  my  merciful  heavenly 
Father  and  putting  my  trust  only  in  Him.  I  opened  my 
dear  Bible  and,  in  the  marvelous  providence  of  God,  my  eyes 
fell  on  these  words  of  God,  addressed  to  Elijah,  "  Get  thee 
hence  and  turn  thee  eastward,  and  hide  thyself  by  the  brook 
Cherith.  ...  I  have  commanded  the  ravens  to  feed 
thee."     (1  Kings  17:  3,  4.) 

I  fell  on  my  knees,  and,  as  much  with  my  tears  as  with  my 
lips,  I  asked  my  God  to  look  upon  me  and  my  poor  starving 
people  in  His  compassion. 

I  could  not  shut  my  eyes  a  single  minute  in  that  awful 
night.  It  seemed  that  I  was  hearing  the  cries  of  desolation 
of  my  poor  starving  people  when  there  was  no  one  to  help 
them.  There  was  before  my  eyes  an  awful  vision  of  thou- 
sands of  starving  children  asking  for  food  from  their  hearts 
broken  parents  who  had  nothing  but  their  tears  to  give  them ! 

Even  to-day  when  I  think  of  that  awful  night,  I  cannot 
understand  how  I  did  not  die  during  its  endless  and  dark 
hours.  My  heart  was  so  broken!  And  though  comforted 
for  a  moment  by  the  words  I  had  read,  my  faith  was  not 
strong  enough  to  shake  off  the  fear  that  my  supplications 
and  prayers  for  the  next  day's  success  were  to  be  received  by 
a  cold  and  contemptuous  rebuke. 

At  last  the  long  and  dark  hours  of  night  passed  away,  and 
one  of  the  briglitest  suns  I  ever  saw  began  to  shine.  But  it 
could  not  bring  rays  of  hope  to  my  soul.  I  could  hardly  eat 
anything  at  breakfast.  My  throat  was  choked  by  the  bread 
I  tried  to  take  when  I  was  thinking  that  my  poor  people 
were  starving.  I  was  ashamed  to  sit  at  such  a  rich  table 
when  so  many  dear  friends  were  shedding  bitter  tears  in  their 
desolated  homes. 

At  last  the  hour  of  the  awful  trial  had  come.  I  had  been 
told  that  I  could  not  present  myself  to  the  doors  of  the  min- 
isters before  eleven  o'clock.     As  I  had  to  walk  two  miles  be- 


The  Famine  113 

fore  reaching  the  first  one  on  my  list,  I  left  the  hotel  at  ten, 
after  having  given  nearly  all  my  money  to  the  hotel  keeper. 

The  day  was  oppressively  warm,  90  in  the  shade,  not  a 
breath  of  a  refreshing  breeze  through  those  streets,  ten  and 
fifteen  miles  long,  bordered  by  houses  from  three  to  five  sto- 
ries high.  I  had  not  walked  more  than  a  mile  in  that  fiery 
atmosphere  when  I  came  near  fainting.  I  entered  a  house 
and  asked  for  a  glass  of  water,  which  was  very  kindly  given 
me.  This  did  me  good,  though  the  next  mile  seemed  ten 
miles  long. 

At  last  I  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  X,  and  1 
rang  the  bell.  After  waiting  a  long  time,  nobody  coming,  I 
rang  again.  Every  minute  of  waiting  seemed  to  me  an  eter- 
nity, for  the  burning  sun  was  wrapping  me  with  an  atmos- 
phere of  90  degrees.  I  was  nearly  fainting  when  a  negro 
girl  came  at  the  third  ringing. 

"  What  do  you  want,  sir?"  she  asked. 

'*  I  want  to  see  Rev.  Mr.  X,"  I  replied. 

"  Please  give  me  your  card,"  she  said. 

'''  I  have  no  cards  with  me,"  I  replied. 

"  Then  please  give  me  your  name." 

"  Chiniquy  is  my  name,"  I  answered,  and  a  moment  later 
I  heard  the  girl  saying  to  her  master — "  Mr.  Niquichiche 
wants  to  see  you  sir." 

"Niquichiche!  Niquichiche!"  answered  the  minister. 
"  What  a  strange  name!  It  is  some  beggar  again,  I  suppose. 
Go  and  tell  him  I  am  busy.     Let  him  come  to-morrow." 

And  the  negro  girl  had  hardly  given  me  her  message,  when 
she  abruptly  shut  the  door  and  left  me  outside  in  the  burn- 
ing sun. 

I  had  more  than  a  mile  to  go  to  the  next  minister.  Many 
times  on  the  way,  I  came  near  fainting.  I  had  to  stop  three 
or  four  times  and  ask  a  glass  of  fresh  water  at  the  grocery 
stores  which  were  on  my  way. 

It  was  half  past  one  when  I  saw  the  name  of  Rev.  Mr.  Y  on 
a  silver  plaque  on  the  door.     The  servant  girl   came   at   the 


114  Forty  Years  in  the  Church   of  Christ 

first  knock,  but  she  seemed  out  of  breath  and  very  impatient. 
"  What  do  you  want?"  she  asked.  "  I  want  to  see  the  Rev. 
Mr.  y."  "  You  cannot  see  him  before  three  o'clock.  He  is 
just  at  his  dinner."  "Please  give  him  this  card  (for  I  had 
bought  a  few  cards  and  had  written  my  name  on  them  on  the 
way)  and  ask  him  if  I  cannot  sit  a  moment  and  take  some 
rest  in  the  shade,  inside  the  door  in  the  corridor."  The  girl 
went  with  my  message  and  soon  came  with  a  cold,  "  No,  sir, 
you  cannot  sit  here,  but  come  back  if  you  like  at  three 
o'clock,"  and  she  slammed  the  door  and  left  me  out  as  if  I  had 
been  a  mad  dog. 

I  had  again  to  turn  my  face  towards  the  burning  sun  and 
walk  another  mile  to  meet  the  next  minister.  But  I  felt  so 
completely  disappointed,  humiliated,  and  discouraged  by  the 
rebukes  I  had  received  at  the  doors  of  these  two  ministers, 
that  I  remained  some  time  as  paralyzed  and  unable  to  go  one 
step  further.  I  sat  a  few  minutes  on  the  stepping  stones  to 
rest.  My  head  was  aching  under  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun 
and  I  think  I  would  have  been  killed  with  a  stroke  of  apo- 
plexy had  not  a  torrent  of  tears  flowed  from  my  eyes.  .  .  . 
Let  me  confess  it  to  my  shame,  in  that  awful  moment,  I  came 
very  near  cursing  the  day  I  was  born. 

But  thanks  be  to  God,  that  terrible  temptation  was  of  a 
short  duration.  Suddenly  the  memory  of  my  Saviour,  for- 
saken and  overloaded  under  the  burden  of  my  sins  in  the 
garden  of  Getlisemane,  came  to  my  mind.  It  seemed  I  was 
hearing  His  cries,  when,  in  His  agony,  He  said:  "Father,  if 
Thou  be  willing,  remove  this  cup  from  Me:  nevertheless,  not 
My  will,  but  Thine,  be  done."  Strengthened  by  this  solemn 
remembrance,  I  reached  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Y  at  about 
three  P.  M.,  but  absolutely  exhausted.  To  my  other  bodily 
and  mental  sufferings  was  then  added  one  of  which  I  had 
beard  spoken  but  had  never  yet  experienced  —  blisters  to  the 
feet.  They  who  have  never  suffered  those  horrible  pains 
will  not  understand  me.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  is  simply 
horrible.     Accustomed  as  I  had  been,  seven  years,  to  walk  on 


The   Famine 


115 


the  soft  grass  of  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  my  feet  were  not  pre- 
pared for  the  new  trial  in  store  for  them.  In  several  places 
the  skin  was  gone  and  the  blood  was  running  in  my  boots. 
At  every  step  I  suffered  a  real  torture.  It  was  as  if  nails  had 
pierced  the  flesh,  or  as  if  burning  coals  had  been  applied  to 
them.  It  was  with  this  new  addition  of  pain  that  I  reached 
the  splendid  parsonage  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Y.  This  time  I  was 
determined  to  walk  into  the  corridor,  and  sit  a  moment  in  the 
shade,  to  breathe  some  fresh  air  and  recuperate  my  strength, 
for  I  felt  absolutely  worn  out. 

As  soon  as  the  servant  opened  the  door,  without  saying  a 
word,  I  entered  and  sat,  or  rather  fell,  on  a  chair  which  was 
there.  I  presented  my  card,  and  said,  "  Please  give  this  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Y,  and  tell  him  that  I  have  some  important  thing  to 
communicate  to  him."  The  girl  went  and  soon  came  back, 
saying,  "  Dr.  Y  is  busy,  he  cannot  see  you  to=day,  he  is 
to  leave  for  the  country  this  afternoon." 

I  answered:  "  Please  tell  Dr.  Y  that  I  want  to  see  him  only 
two  or  three  minutes  on  a  most  important  business.  It  will 
not  delay  him." 

The  servant  took  my  message,  but  she  did  not  come  back. 

I  waited  about  five  minutes,  when  the  lad)'^  herself  with 
her  bonnet  on  her  head  and  her  shawl  on  her  arm,  pre- 
sented herself  to  me  suddenly  from  the  parlour.  Without 
saluting  me  she  said,  "  Has  not  the  servant  told  you  that 
Dr.  Y  was  busy  and  could  not  see  you?  If  you  were  a  gen- 
tleman, you  would  know  that  your  business  was  to  go.  Well, 
sir,  I  come  to  tell  you  that  Dr.  Y  cannot  see  you.  We  are 
just  starting  for  the  country;  the  carriage  is  there  at  the 
door.  If  you  have  any  business  with  my  husband,  do  it  by 
letters;  you  cannot  speak  with  him  to=day.  Please  leave 
this  chair  when  nobody  has  invited  you  to  sit  on  it." 

If  I  'had  not  gone  promptly,  it  was  evident  that  she  was 
prepared  to  push  me  out  of  the  door  herself,  or  call  her  serv- 
ants to  render  her  that  service.  I  walked  out  at  the  double 
quick  to  prevent  my  being  forcibly  ejected  by  the  servants, 


ii6  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

whom  I   saw   appronchinp:   evidently   by  the  order  of  their 
mistress. 

But  I  could  not  go  far.  The  few  minutes  of  rest  rendered 
a  hundred  times  more  i^ainful  the  blisters  of  my  feet.  Be- 
sides that,  my  moral  as  well  as  my  physical  strength  was 
completely  exhausted. 

I  was  as  a  man  who  is  drunk.  The  body  was  too  heavy 
for  the  enfeebled  legs. 

After  a  sleepless  night,  I  had  not  had  a  l^reakfast  of  any 
account,  no  dinner — and  had  been  walking  for  the  last  five 
hours  under  a  burning  sun  in  an  atmosphere  of  90  degrees. 

Suddenly,  all  the  objects  around  me  seemed  to  turn  as 
spinning  tops. 

I  walked  a  few  rods,  but  soon  my  eyes  could  not  see  enough 
to  guide  me.  My  feet  struck  on  a  stone  at  the  corner  of  a 
street,  and  I  sank  down  on  it  unable  to  walk  a  step  farther. 
With  my  head  resting  on  my  hands,  I  began  to  cry:  "Oh 
my  God!  my  God!  what  will  become  of  my  poor  people! 
Thou  knowest  it,  I  cannot  consent  to  go  back  to  see  their 
tears  and  hear  their  cries  of  desolation,  if  I  cannot  save 
them  from  their  terrible  distress.  I  am  ignominiously  turned 
out  from  every  door  of  the  so=called  ministers,  absolutely 
without  a  friend  in  this  city,  without  a  cent  remaining  to 
pay  my  lodging,  unable  to  walk  a  step  farther,  the  only 
favour  I  ask  from  Thee  is  to  put  an  end  to  my  miserable  ex- 
istence just  now." 

My  hope  was  that  God  had  granted  my  prayer,  for  I  had 
hardly  finished  it  when  I  lost  consciousness.  How  long  I 
remained  unconscious  I  do  not  know. 

When  I  came  back  to  myself,  and  opened  my  eyes,  I  saw 
several  peojjle  around  me,  and  a  tall  lady  dressed  in  black, 
who  was  shaking  my  head  and  saying:  "  What  are  you  doing 
here,  sir?" 

I  was,  for  some  time,  unable  to  answer  or  to  understand 
my  position.     It  seemed,  at  first,  that  I  was  dreaming. 

The  kind  lady  took  my  hand,  and  said  again,  "  What  are 


The  Famine  1 17 

you  doing  here,  sir?"  With  a  feeble  voice,  I  answered:  "  I 
am  sick,  and  unable  to  walk  any  farther." 

Then  the  good  lady,  gazing  at  my  face,  exclaimed:  "Are 
you  not  Father  Ohiniquy  who  addressed  the  noonday 
prayer-meeting  of  yesterday,  at  the  Sansom  Street  Church?" 

"  Yes,  madam,  I  am." 

"  And  you  say  you  are  sick  and  cannot  walk.  Why  is  it 
so?'' 

"  Because  my  feet  are  blistered,  my  boots  are  filled  with 
blood,  and  I  am  exhausted  from  having  walked  in  the  burn- 
ing sun  since  ten  o'clock  this  morning." 

"O  my  God!"  exclaimed  the  good  lady.  And  then,  call- 
ing a  cabman  who  was  near  by  with  his  carriage,  she  told  him : 
"Please  take  that  gentleman  to  my  hotel;  I  will  pay  you." 

She  helped  me  to  stand  on  my  feet,  and  the  cabman  helping 
me  into  his  carriage,  drove  me  to  the  hotel. 

A  few  minutes  after  my  arrival  the  kind  lady,  with  a  doctor 
she  had  taken  with  her,  was  by  my  side  in  that  comfortable 
hotel.  The  name  of  that  good  Samaritan,  of  whom  we  will 
hear  more  in  this  book,  was  Miss  Rebecca  Snowdon. 


CHAPTER  DC 

The  Angel  of  Mercy  and  the  Manna  from  Heaven.     God  is  Our  Father, 
We  are  His  Children 

Miss  Rebecca  Snowdon  was  the  an^^el  of  the  mercy  of  God 
in  the  city  of  Phihidelphia.  Having  inherited  a  large  for- 
tune, which  she  had  almost  completely  given  for  the  support 
of  the  poor,  and  the  different  Christian  work  of  the  churches, 
she  had  an  unparalleled  influence  among  the  ministers  as  well 
as  among  the  people.  She  was  the  soul  and  inspiring  genius 
of  a  large  part  of  the  Christian  work  of  that  great  city.  The 
poor  and  the  unfortunate  from  every  class  were  looking  to 
her  for  help  and  consolation.  At  the  same  time  the  treasuries 
of  the  rich  were  always  open  to  her  calls. 

Not  satisfied  with  taking  me  to  her  hotel  and  engaging  one 
of  the  best  doctors  to  give  me  his  care,  she  spent  several 
hours  of  the  night  with  him  at  my  bedside. 

At  first  the  doctor  feared  there  were  symptoms  of  sun- 
stroke in  my  extreme  prostration,  and  he  did  not  conceal  his 
anxiety.  He  asked  for  another  physician  for  advice.  But 
they  concluded  that  my  prostration  was  due  only  to  anxiety 
of  my  mind,  the  want  of  sufficient  food,  and  too  much  walk- 
ing in  the  burning  atmosi^here  of  the  city. 

Both  doctors  did  all  that  could  be  done  to  resiore  me,  and 
my  merciful  God  blessed  their  efforts  in  a  marvelous  way. 

The  next  morning  they  declared  that  I  was  well  enough  to 
attend  the  noonday  prayer=meeting  of  the  next  day.  Miss 
Snowdon  then  said:  "As  the  doctors  hope  that  you  will  be 
able  to-morrow  to  attend  the  union  prayer  meeting  of  the 
Sansom  Street  Church,  I  will  go  to  see  Mr.  George  H.  Stuart 
and  ask  him  to  arrange  a  special  meeting  of  the  ministers, 
and  you  may  trust  in  the  Lord  for  the  rest.     Through  the 

118 


Manna  from  Heaven 


119 


press  I  have  followed  your  steps  since  your  marvelous  con- 
version with  your  people.  I  have  secretly  written  to  several 
ministers  in  your  neighbourhood,  and  Mr.  Stuart  has  done 
the  same.  The  best  reports  about  your  conversion  and  your 
genuine  evangelical  work  are  in  our  hands,  as  well  as  the  sad 
history  of  the  complete  loss  of  your  crops;  Mr.  Stuart  knows 
more  about  you  than  you  suspect.  All  that  can  be  done  by 
us  to  help  you  in  your  difficult  work,  will  be  done.  Be  of 
good  cheer,  and  trust  in  the  Lord. 

"  There  are  millions  of  idle  dollars  in  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  Baltimore,  and  in  the  cities  of  New  England.  By  the 
grace  of  God  some  of  those  idle  dollars  must  be  unearthed 
and  go  to  save  your  starving  people.  There  are  thousands  of 
Christians  who  will  be  happy  to  share  with  you  and  your 
people  what  the  Lord  has  entrusted  to  them." 

God  only  knows  what  balm  these  words  were  to  my  soul. 
.  .  .  After  she  had  spoken,  I  asked  her  to  read  the  108rd 
Psalm  of  David:  "Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul!  and  let  all 
that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name."  This  she  did. 
After  that  she  humbly  knelt  and  sent  to  the  Mercy  Seat,  for 
me  and  my  poor  people,  one  of  those  ardent  supplications  as 
she  only  could  do. 

That  George  Stuart  of  whom  Miss  Snowdon  had  spoken, 
was  known  to  me  only  by  reputation.  I  knew  he  was  one  of 
the  greatest  Christian  philanthropists  of  our  tinie;  that  he  was 
at  the  head  of  one  of  the  rich  banks  of  Philadelphia,  and  the 
founder  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

The  next  day  he  kindly  took  me,  with  Miss  Snowdon,  in 
his  carriage,  to  the  noonday  prayer^meeting  of  Sansom 
Street  Church,  and  he  helped  me  to  walk  to  the  front  pew, 
for  I  was  still  quite  weak,  and  my  feet  were  not  yet  com- 
pletely healed. 

The'pressing  invitation  sent  to  all  the  ministers  to  attend 
that  meeting  had  spread  the  rumour  that  George  Stuart  and 
Miss  Snowdon  had  some  very  interesting  new  facts  to  present 
about   Father  Chiniquy  and  his  people.     The  church   was 


I20  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

crowded  to  its  uttermost  capacity  by  the  6lite   of  the  city. 
Not  less  than  sixty  ministers  had  come  to  the  appeal. 

As  soon  as  the  first  pn4iminaries  of  the  meeting  were  over, 
Mr.  Stuart,  having  asked  and  obtained  permission  to  speak 
twenty-five  minutes  instead  of  five,  gave  the  history  of  our 
conversion  by  reading  half  a  dozen  interesting  letters  of 
ministers  who  had  visited  us.  And  he  depicted  the  spectacle 
of  our  sufferings  from  the  loss  of  our  crops  with  such  a  burn- 
ing eloquence  that  there  were  no  eyes  dry  in  that  large  audi- 
ence. 

He  concluded  by  saying:  "It  is  one  of  our  wisest  regula- 
tions not  to  beg  any  money  in  our  noonday  prayer-meetings, 
and  I  will  not  break  that  law,  but  in  the  name  of  our  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ,  I  ask  all  the  ministers  who  are  here,  and  those 
of  you  my  Christian  brothers  and  sisters  who  can  do  it,  to  re- 
main in  order  to  hear  from  me  and  Miss  Snowdon  what  we 
consider  to  be  our  duty  in  this  solemn  hour.'' 

Only  very  few  left  tlie  church  after  the  benediction. 

At  the  invitation  of  Mr.  Stuart,  the  ministers  came  to  the 
front.  After  a  fervent  prayer  from  one  of  them,  the  assembly 
was  organized  into  a  new  one  under  the  presidency  of  George 
H.  Stuart,  in  order  to  put  to  me  the  questions  they  desired 
about  our  colony  and  myself.  One  of  the  leading  ministers 
then  asked  me  if  I  had  joined  any  denomination. 

I  answered,  "  No,  sir,  not  yet.  After  we  had  accepted 
Christ  for  our  only  Saviour  and  the  Gospel  for  our  only  rule 
of  faith,  we  publicly  gave  up  our  allegiance  to  the  Church  of 
Rome  and  we  called  ourselves  Christian  Catholics."  •'  Why 
did  you  not  connect  yourselves  with  one  of  our  great  Christian 
denominations?"  asked  that  reverend  gentleman.  "  That  de- 
nomination would  have  taken  you  by  the  hand,  and  they 
would  have  helped  you  through  your  present  difficulties." 

I  answered,  "  The  joining  of  one  of  your  denominations  is 
a  more  difficult  thing  than  you  suspect.  You  have  no  idea 
how  your  unfortunate  divisions  look  to  the  eyes   of  a  new 


Manna  from  Heaven  I2I 

convert  from  Rome.  As  you  want  me  to  speak  plainly,  I  will 
tell  you  the  truth  on  that  subject.  Your  divisions  are  a 
frightful  scandal  to  us:  they  make  us  unspeakably  sad. 
There  we  see  the  grand  Episcopal  Church  so  much  opposed 
to  what  she  calls  the  dissenters,  that  she  will  not  allow  a  sin- 
gle one  of  their  ministers  to  speak  in  her  pulpits,  or  receive 
the  communion  at  her  altars.  Here  we  find  the  Presbyter- 
ians divided  into  several  camps  fiercely  fighting  against  each 
other.  Every  one  of  you  knows  how  the  United  States  are 
just  now  filled  with  the  deplorable  scandals  of  the  war  be- 
tween the  two  grand  sections  of  the  Presbyterians  under  the 
names  of  Old  School  and  New  School.  A  little  further  we 
find  the  Lutherans  with  their  crucifixes  and  so  many  other 
ways  of  Romanism,  assuring  us  that  they  are  the  best  branch 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  But  at  a  little  distance  further  we 
see  and  hear  the  fiery  and  pious  Methodists  telling  us  a  very 
different  story.  I  have  many  reliable  volumes  in  my  library 
showing  me  that  there  are  more  than  100  different  denomina- 
tions of  Protestants,  many  of  them  fighting  each  other  like 
wild  cats!  How  can  we  find  which  is  the  best,  the  most 
evangelical,  the  most  really  Christian  among  that  multitude 
of  denominations,  when  they,  more  or  less,  condemn  each 
other?  Have  you  ever  thought  of  the  amount  of  study  required 
to  know  which  is  the  surest,  the  shortest  way  to  heaven 
among  so  many  roads  which  lead  into  such  different,  not  to 
say  opposite,  directions?  Do  you  not  see  that  this  is  a  most 
intricate,  difiicult,  not  to  say  impossible  thing,  for  a  man 
just  coming  out  from  the  dark  dungeons  of  Popery?  Oh! 
dear  Christian  friends,  why  are  you  not  one?  Your  divi- 
sions, your  animosities,  your  quarrels  are  a  terrible  stumbling- 
block  to  us.  When  will  come  the  happy  day  when  the 
Episcopalians,  the  Presbyterians,  the  Baptists,  the  Metho- 
dists and  the  Congregationalists,  etc.,  will  embrace  each  other 
and  forget  their  differences  at  the  dear  Saviour's  feet!  Then 
the  world  will  be  saved.     Then  and  then  only  this  world  will 


122  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

be  brought  by  an  irresistible,  a  Divine  power,  to  the  feet  of 
the  Lamb  who  will  make  the  people  pure  with  His  blood,  and 
free  with  His  Word! 

"  You  advise  me,  my  dear  and  venerable  brethren,  to  join 
one  of  your  denominations!  It  is  my  prayerful  desire  since 
the  happy  day  I  found  my  dear  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who 
washed  my  soul  in  His  blood.  But  the  more  I  study  your 
different  books  of  explanations  about  your  peculiar  articles 
of  faith,  the  more  I  find  it  difficult,  not  to  say  impossible,  to 
make  a  choice.  And  the  more  I  think  that  we,  the  new  con- 
verts of  Rome,  do  well  to  accept  for  the  only  rule  of  faith  the 
answer  of  our  Saviour  to  the  young  lawyer  who  asked  him, 
'Good  Master,  what  must  I  do  to  have  Everlasting  Life?' 
'  Love  God,  My  Father,  who  has  so  much  loved  you,  that  He 
has  sent  Me  to  save  you.  Love  your  neighbour  as  yourself, 
repent,  believe,  invoke  My  name,  and  you  will  be  saved.' 
Is  that  not  the  very  platform  brought  from  heaven  by  the 
Son  of  God  to  save  the  world?  My  heart  is  sad  when  you  in- 
vite me  to  join  one  of  your  denominations.  For  I  want  to 
join  them  all.  I  want  to  embrace  them  all  and  press  them  all 
to  my  heart  as  equally  being  the  children  of  God.  Beloved 
of  Christ,  I  do  not  want  to  reject  a  single  one  of  you,  so 
long  as  you  love  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  and  believe  in  His 
atoning  blood  to  save  us.  But  if  I  unite  with  the  grand 
Episcopal  Church  for  instance,  will  I  not  then  be  deprived  of 
proclaiming  my  Saviour's  love  in  the  other  churches?  Will 
it  not  be  a  sad  necessity  to  consider  myself  above  the  rest  of 
my  Methodist,  Baptist,  or  Congregationalist  brethren?  If 
I  unite  with  the  Baptists,  after  being  immersed,  will  I  not 
be  forbidden  to  sit  at  the  Lord's  table,  as  a  brother,  with  the 
Presbyterians  and  the  rest  of  the  Christians?  Will  not  the 
rest  of  the  disciples  of  Christ  be  as  excommunicated,  profane 
men,  and  strangers  to  me? 

"Are  you  prepared  to  tell  me  that  that  platform  built  by  the 
hands  of  Christ  Himself,  '  Love  God  and  thy  neighbour, 
repent,  believe   in  Me,  invoke  My  name '  is  not  large  enough 


Manna  from   Heaven  123 

to  keep  us  all:  or  that  it  is  not  holy  enough  to  save  us  all? 

"  But  I  do  not  come  here  to  teach  you,  my  beloved  and  ven- 
erable brethren,  I  come  to  be  taught  by  you.  It  is  my  de- 
sire to  follow  your  advice  and  if  possible  join  with  one  of  your 
Christian  denominations.  For  I  feel  that  if  we  do  not,  our 
newly  converted  congregations  will  soon  form,  as  a  new  di- 
vision, a  new  denomination,  under  the  name  of  Chiniquy's 
church — a  thing  which  we  must  avoid  at  any  cost.  That  ap- 
pellation of  Chiniquy's  church  has  already  been  given  us,  to 
my  great  distress,  by  the  Roman  Catholics.  But  this  choice 
of  the  denomination  with  which  we  will  unite  requires  a 
great  deal  of  attention,  study  and  prayer.  Please  tell  us  how 
much  time  you  give  us  to  make  that  choice?" 

The  reverend  gentleman  who  had  been  selected  to  address 
me,  said,  "  As  you  have  already  read  and  thought  much  about 
that  matter,  we  think  that  you  could  give  us  your  choice  to- 
morrow. We  answer,  I  pledge  my  word  of  honour,  that  the 
denomination  you  will  join  will  take  you  and  your  converts 
by  the  hand,  and  help  you  to  go  through  the  difficulties  by 
which  your  faith  is  so  much  tried." 

And  turning  his  face  towards  the  ministers  surrounding  him, 
he  said:  "  Do  you  not  sanction  what  I  have  said,  and  do  you 
not  promise  Father  Chiniquy  that  you  will  do  all  in  your 
power  to  persuade  your  church  to  help  him  when  he  will  have 
connected  himself  with  one  of  our  denominations?"  They 
all  answered,  "Yes!  we  do  promise  that."  I  then  said,  "I 
cannot  sufficiently  thank  you,  venerable  and  dear  brethren, 
for  this  unexpected,  unmerited,  and  so  great  kindness  towards 
me.  You  give  me  one  day  to  consider  which  is  the  most 
evangelical  Christian  denomination  among  you,  and  if  I 
join  that  denomination,  my  dear  people  and  myself  will  be 
delivered  from  the  terrible  calamity  which  is  upon  us!  This 
is  very  kind,  very  liberal  indeed!  But  allow  me  to  show  you 
that  I  am  still  more  liberal  than  you  are.  I  do  presently  give 
you  three  days  to  consider  and  solve  that  great  question  of  the 
most  evangelical  Church. 


124  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  ot  Christ 

"  If  it  is  an  easy  task  for  me,  as  you  say,  to  find  out  that  great 
and  marvelous  secret  in  one  day,  it  will  be  more  easy  for  you 
all  to  find  it  in  three  days.  I  am  here  alone,  without  expe- 
rience, and  without  knowledge  of  the  great  questions  involved 
in  that  finding:  whilst  you  will  not  only  be  sixty  against  one 
to  resolve  that  great  problem,  but  you  are  among  the  most 
learned  men  of  the  United  States,  being  also  well  versed  in  all 
the  questions  and  the  diflSculties  involved  in  that  work. 
Yes!  I  ask  you  again,  please  take  three  days  for  your  re- 
searches, and  the  moment  you  unite  in  finding  what  I  want 
to  know,  tell  it  to  me.  I  solemnly  promise  here  that  I  will 
connect  with  that  denomination  at  once." 

The  last  word  was  not  yet  out  of  my  mouth  when  a  burst  of 
enthusiastic  applause  shook  the  very  walls  of  the  vast  edifice. 
Every  one  seemed  to  be  beside  himself.  They  were  clapping 
thoir  hands,  striking  the  floor  with  their  feet,  waving  their 
handkerchiefs  in  sign  of  approbation,  and  crying,  "Bravo! 
Bravo!     That  is  right!     That  is  right!" 

Mr.  Stuart,  who  had  been  among  the  most  enthusiastic  in 
applauding,  rose,  and  said,  "The  lesson  Father  Chiniquy 
has  just  given  us,  is  one  of  the  best  we  ever  had:  it  is 
worth  a  million  of  dollars.  I  wish  all  the  echoes  of  our  vast 
plains  and  high  mountains  would  carry  them  over  all  the 
Protestant  Churches  of  the  five  continents.  Father  Chiniquy 
has  put  us  Protestants  into  a  bag  outof  which  we  cannot  escape. 
Yes!  our  miserable,  ridiculous  divisions  are  a  shame!  How 
can  we  ask  him  to  do  a  thing  which  not  one  of  us  can  do — 
nay,  a  thing  which  cannot  be  done  by  sixty,  by  a  million  of 
us!  Would  to  God  that  we  were  one  as  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ  wants  us  to  be  one,  that  the  world  might  see  that  He  is 
really  the  Saviour  of  our  world.  Without  that  unity,  I  fear 
much  that  our  Christianity  is  a  sham !  Would  to  God  that  our 
theologians  would  have  kept  the  Christian  nations  on  that 
platform  on  which  Father  Chiniquy  and  his  people  stand  to= 
day  I 


Manna  from   Heaven  125 

"  I  move  that  no  more  effort  be  made  to  ask  him  and  his 
converts  to  come  down  from  that  large  and  divine  platform 
which  he  has  so  wisely  chosen  and  on  which  he  so  nobly 
stands!  Is  he  not  safe  on  it?  Who  will  second  my  motion?" 
And  the  whole  assembly — ministers  and  people — were  on 
their  feet  to  second  it. 

"  I  move  a  second  motion,"  said  Mr.  Stuart,  "which  is,  that 
we  respectfully  ask  the  ministers  and  officers  of  every  de- 
nomination in  Philadelphia  to  invite  Father  Chiniquy  to  ad- 
dress their  people  every  evening  of  next  week,  including  the 
Sabbath,  and  that  collections  should  be  taken  at  each  meet- 
ing for  him  and  his  people  to  save  them  from  their  great 
tribulation." 

.  That  motion  was  seconded  with  thunders  of  applauding 
voices,  "Here  is  my  third  and  last  motion,"  said  Mr.  Stuart. 
"  I  move  that  just  now,  a  collection  be  taken  by  Miss  Snow- 
don  and  other  ladies  she  will  choose,  to  help  Father  Chiniquy 
and  his  people.  I  have  had  small  cards  put  in  the  pews  that 
you  may  write  your  names  with  the  sums  you  wish  to  give,  if 
you  have  not  the  cash  with  you;  and  to  give  a  good  example, 
I  put  these  $200  into  Miss  Snowdon's  plate." 

This  motion  was  again  seconded  by  the  whole  people.  The 
collection  was  immediately  taken  by  Miss  Snowdon  and  the 
other  ladies,  and  $1,500  were  put  into  my  hands,  in  good 
promissory  notes  and  cash,  before  I  left  the  church! 

The  Israelites  perishing  in  the  desert  from  the  want  of 
water,  were  not  more  filled  with  admiration  and  joy  when 
they  saw  the  fresh  water  coming  from  the  rock  at  the  touch 
of  Moses'  rod,  than  I  was  at  the  strange,  unexpected  and 
marvelous  spectacle  which  was  before  me. 

The  great  Christian,  George  H.  Stuart,  had  touched  the 
rock,  and  the  fresh  waters  were  coming  to  quench  the  thirst 
and  save  my  dear  people.  I  was  unable  to  speak  only  with 
my  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude.  My  emotion  was  too  great 
to  utter  any  intelligent  expression. 


126  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

What  I  heard  and  saw  that  day  was  as  marvelous  to  me 
as  the  manna  which  had  fallen  from  heaven  at  the  prayer  of 
Moses. 

I  remained  twenty  days  in  Philadelphia  addressing  the  peo- 
ple in  seventeen  different  churches.  Then  I  went  to  New 
York, where  a  still  greater  success  was  in  store  for  me.  Then 
to  Boston.  Three  months  later,  I  was  invited  again,  not  only 
by  the  ministers  of  those  cities,  but  by  those  of  Chicago, 
Washington,  Baltimore,  Pittsburg,  Montreal,  Toronto, 
Springfield  and  many  others.  The  churches  were  never  large 
enough  to  hold  the  people  who  wished  to  hear  what  I  had  to 
say  of  the  mercies  of  our  God  towards  us. 

Wherever  I  went,  committees  were  formed  under  the  name 
of  "Chiniquy's  Committee,"  to  raise  money  enough  to  pay 
the  mortgages,  and  buy  food  and  clothing  for  the  people.  On 
my  first  return  home  a  committee  was  formed  of  six  of  our 
principal  converts  of  St.  Anne,  who  selected  me  for  the 
president,  and  Mr.  Staples  for  the  secretary,  to  correspond 
with  our  Christian  benefactors,  spread,  I  dare  say,  over  the 
whole  world,  for  abundant  help  came  from  England,  Scot- 
land, Germany  and  even  from  the  Australian  colonies. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year,  all  the  mortgages,  to  the  amount 
of  $50,000,  were  paid.  Two  hundred  barrels  of  flour  had  been 
distributed,  with  as  many  bushels  of  potatoes,  and  thousands 
of  pounds  of  meat  necessary  to  make  the  people  forget  the 
terrible  calamities  which  had  struck  them. 

Besides  that  one  hundred  and  fifty  large  boxes  of  good 
clothing  had  been  sent  to  be  distributed. 

When  the  last  cent  of  mortgage  had  been  paid,  and  the 
numberless  cutthroat  mortgages  given  by  our  dear  converts 
had  been  torn  into  fragments,  with  our  own  hands,  and  thrown 
into  the  fire;  when  every  one  had  been  fed  and  clothed  and 
the  tears  of  distress  had  been  changed  into  tears  of  joy, 
I  gathered  my  dear  countrymen  into  their  humble  chapel,  to 
ask  our  merciful  God  to  bless  our  benefactors,  and  to  thank 
Him  for  His  mercies  toward  us.     With  the  holy  prophet  we 


Manna  from  Heaven  127 

sang  together,  "  O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  for  He  is  good: 
for  His  mercy  endureth  forever.  Let  the  redeemed  of  the 
Lord  say  so,  whom  He  hath  redeemed  from  the  hand  of  the 
enemy;  and  gathered  them  out  of  the  lands,  from  the  east, 
and  from  the  west,  from  the  north,  and  from  the  south. 

"They  wandered  in  the  wilderness  in  a  solitary  way;  they 
found  no  city  to  dwell  in.  Hungry  and  thirsty,  their  soul 
fainted  in  them.  They  cried  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble, 
and  He  delivered  them  out  of  their  distresses.  And  He  led 
them  forth  by  the  right  way,  that  they  might  go  to  a  city  of 
habitation. 

"  Oh  that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness,  and 
for  His  wonderful  works  to  the  children  of  men!  For  He 
satisfieth  the  longing  soul,  and  filleth  the  hungry  soul  with 
food.  Because  they  rebelled  against  the  words  of  God,  and 
contemned  the  counsel  of  the  most  High:  Therefore  He 
brought  down  their  heart  with  labour;  they  fell  down,  and 
there  was  none  to  help. 

"Then  they  cried  unto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  He 
saved  them  out  of  their  distresses.  He  brought  them  out  of 
darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  and  brake  their  bands  in 
sunder. 

' '  Oh  that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  His  good- 
ness, and  for  His  wonderful  works  to  the  children  of  men!" 
(Psalms  107.) 


CHAPTER  X 

A  Lesson  of  the  Mercies  of  God  in  Disguise 

The  terrible  calamity  by  which  our  colony  of  St.  Anne  had 
been  visited  in  the  year  1858-1859,  was  almost  entirely  con- 
centrated on  the  fertile  though  low  lands  of  our  dear  con- 
verts. 

By  the  mysterious  providence  of  God,  the  farmers  of  the 
surrounding  country  had  generally  been  blessed  with  crops 
almost  as  rich  as  usual.  Of  course  the  priests  of  Rome  had 
availed  themselves  of  the  fact  to  publish  everywhere  that 
this  was  the  visible  punishment  of  God. 

Though  we  knew  very  well  that  it  was  not  so,  we  were  hu- 
miliated, embarrassed  and  confused  when  we  had  to  speak  on 
that  matter  with  those  of  our  former  friends  who  had  remained 
in  the  Church  of  Rome. 

When  considering  that  strange  fact,  in  the  presence  of  God, 
more  than  once  I  had  wondered  in  my  desolation,  "Why  it 
was  that  we  have  been  visited  by  these  calamities  just  after 
we  have  heard  and  obeyed  the  merciful  voice  of  our  God,  and 
given  up  the  idols  of  Rome  to  follow  His  holy  Gospel?" 

It  was  only  when  among  our  Protestant  friends  that  I 
understood  that  mystery  of  the  love  of  God  towards  me  and 
my  people.  Without  those  calamities  we  would  have  re- 
mained as  strangers  to  the  Protestants  of  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  There  would  have  been  no  intercourse  be- 
tween them  and  us,  and  we  would  have  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  understand  the  unfathomable  abyss  which  sepa- 
rates the  unfortunate  Roman  Catholics  from  the  regions 
of  light,  intelligence,  liberty  and  true  charity  which  come 
from   the   real  promised  land  inhabited  by   the   Protestant 

128 


God's   Mercies  in   Disguise  129 

nations.  Yes!  though  reading  our  Bibles  and  walking  in  their 
saving  light,  there  would  have  been  no  opportunity,  I  dare 
say  no  possibility,  for  myself  and  my  converted  countrymen 
to  rid  ourselves  of  the  prejudices  in  which  we  were  born,  and 
in  which  we  had  lived  and  grown  till  then,  if  the  apparently 
rude,  though  mercifully  tender,  hand  of  our  heavenly  Father 
had  not  forced  me,  in  spite  of  myself,  to  go  out  from  among 
my  own  people,  and  to  live  for  a  considerable  time  among  the 
Protestants. 

What  was  not  the  pleasure  of  Caleb  and  Joshua  when,  at 
the  orders  of  God,  they  went  to  explore  the  Promised  Land, 
after  the  many  years  spent  in  the  burning  sand  of  the  wilder- 
ness! How  their  eyes  gazed  with  delight  on  the  green  pas- 
tures, the  gardens,  the  orchards  and  the  vineyards  along  the 
brook  of  Eshcol! 

How  amazed  they  were,  when  looking  upon  the  magnifi- 
cent and  succulent  clusters  of  grapes  which  were  hanging 
everywhere  from  the  vines!  How  pleased  they  were,  when, 
bent  under  the  burden  of  the  grapes,  the  pomegranates 
and  the  figs,  they  turned  their  steps  towards  the  tents  of  their 
own  people  to  show  them  the  incalculable  richness  of  the  new 
land  which  God  had  given  them! 

But  my  joy  was  not  less,  when,  after  the  several  weeks  spent 
among  the  new  brothers  and  sisters  I  had  found  in  Philadel- 
phia and  the  New  England  States,  I  was  coming  back  to  my 
dear  but  so  tried  people  of  Illinois,  loaded  with  the  fruits  I 
had  gathered  on  the  way. 

Surely  the  $56,000  I  was  carrying  were  not  less  precious 
than  the  branch  cut  down  with  the  cluster  of  grapes  which 
Joshua  and  Caleb  brought  to  the  Israelites  in  the  wilder- 
ness. 

However,  these  large  sums  of  money  and  the  great  value  of 
the  food  and  clothing  I  had  secured  were  nothing  to  me  and 
my  people  when  compared  with  the  value  of  the  moral  treas- 
ures I  had  found  wherever  my  merciful  God  had  directed  my 
steps. 


130  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

It  was  then,  that,  for  the  first  time,  I  could  compare  the  lives 
of  the  Protestant  ministers  with  the  lives  of  the  priests  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  It  was  then,  only,  I  could  see  the  immeas- 
urable superiority  of  the  moral,  literary,  social,  Protestant 
education  over  that  of  the  Roman  Catholic.  It  was  then  also 
for  the  first  time  I  could  compare  the  home  life,  the  private 
life,  the  manners  and  the  daily  habits  of  the  Protestant  min- 
isters with  those  of  the  priests  of  Rome.  It  was  then,  in  a 
word,  I  could  compare  the  unspeakable  misery  and  degradation 
of  the  bachelor  priests  of  the  Pope,  with  the  beauty,  dig- 
nity and  holiness  of  the  married  life  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Gospel. 

One  of  the  first  things  that  struck  me  was  the  high  tone  of 
conversation  of  the  Protestant  ministers.  Wherever  I  went 
among  them,  I  had  to  admire  not  only  their  learning  on  all 
the  greatest  questions  of  history  and  Scripture,  but  the  con- 
stant application  of  their  time  to  the  study  and  discussion  of 
what  could  improve,  ornate,  enrich  and  sanctify  their  minds 
and  characters. 

What  a  difference  between  the  conversation  among  the 
Protestant  ministers  and  what  I  had  heard  while  among  the 
priests  of  Rome! 

For  the  readers  would  refuse  to  believe  me  were  I  to  tell 
them  what  I  know  on  that  subject.  I  still  blush  when  I  remem- 
ber the  silly,  the  foolish,  the  degrading,  the  obscene  things  I 
heard  from  the  lips  of  those  poor  slaves  of  the  Bishops  and 
the  Popes. 

Many  times  the  most  depraved  tramp  of  our  streets  would 
have  felt  ashamed  to  hear  the  filthy  things  which  flowed  from 
their  tongues  as  from  their  natural  source. 

How  many  times,  after  having  vainly  tried  to  silence  them, 
I  was  forced  in  disgust  to  leave  the  room,  and  to  let  them 
alone  to  finish  their  unmentionable  stories! 

But  how  can  it  be  otherwise  when  those  forced  bachelors 
are  obliged  to  spend  the  greatest  part  of  their  time  in  hearing 
the  infamies  of  the  Auricular  Confession  ?     Their  minds  are 


God's   Mercies  in   Disguise  131 

absolutely  filled  with  impurities  so  that  there  is  no  room  left 
for  any  honest  thoughts.  The  daily,  the  hourly  occasions 
the  priest  of  Rome  has  to  speak  with  his  penitents  on  the 
most  impure,  immoral,  unmentionable  matters,  destroy  in 
him  the  natural  laws  of  modesty  which  separates  man  from 
the  brute. 

Even  the  most  honest  priests  cannot  avoid  hearing,  every 
day,  or  many  times  a  day,  the  recital  of  the  most  impure,  de- 
filing stories.  The  natural,  the  irresistible  tendency  of 
Auricular  Confession  leaves  impressions  in  the  mind  and 
memory,  which,  though  resisted  at  first,  soon  become  irresist- 
ible for  the  greatest  number  of  priests. 

Can  you  keep  your  hands  white  and  clean,  if  ten,  twenty 
times  a  day  you  plunge  them  into  black  ink  or  dirty  pitch  ? 

Thanks  to  God  there  are  exceptional  cases  here  as  well  as 
in  everything  else  in  this  world.  But  these  exceptions  are 
few  and  scarce. 

Yes,  through  the  defilements  of  Auricular  Confession  and 
the  degrading  yoke  of  their  diabolical  celibacy,  the  priests, 
as  a  general  thing,  have  their  minds,  their  hearts,  their  mem- 
ory, their  whole  being  so  debased  and  degraded,  that  their 
conversations  (with  exceptions)  have  an  unbearable  odor. 
One  of  the  most  humiliating  trials  of  my  life  when  a  priest 
of  Rome,  was   the  hearing  of  their  conversation. 

After  having  spent  several  weeks  in  the  Christian  company 
of  those  ministers  and  having  remembered  the  tortures  I  had 
sufiPered,  when  forced  to  hear  the  silly,  disgusting,  stupid  or 
childish  conversations  of  the  priests,  I  felt  as  having  passed 
from  darkness  into  light,  from  death  into  life,  from  the  doors 
of  hell  to  the  mansions  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  and  I  blessed 
my  Grod  for  His  mercies  towards  me  and  my  people. 

Another  thing  which  made  me  understand  that  the  dire 
trials  through  which  we  had  passed  were  among  the  greatest 
favours  of  our  God  to  us,  was  the  opportunity  it  gave  me,  for 
the  first  time,  to  see  the  blessed  influence  of  the  wife  of  the 
minister  not  only  in  the  parsonage  but  in  the  church. 


132  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

It  was  when  in  the  presence  of  those  anp^els  of  the  mercies 
of  God,  at  the  side  of  the  minister  of  the  Gospel,  that  I 
understood  the  sophisms  of  Rome  about  the  celibacy  of  her 
priests. 

Everywhere,  but  particularly  in  the  parsonage,  the  power 
of  the  wife  is  like  the  influence  of  the  sun  in  the  world. 

As  the  sun  gives  light  and  life  to  the  world,  so  the  wife  of 
the  minister  is  a  focus  of  light  and  life  in  the  church.  Not 
only  she  adds  to  the  moral  strength  and  influence  of  the  min- 
ister by  her  presence,  but  she  is  herself  a  tower  of  strength 
for  her  husband  and  his  people. 

She  heljis  him  to  console  the  afflicted  and  to  feed  the  poor. 
More  than  the  minister  himself,  she  finds  out  the  secret  trials 
of  the  families,  and  she  knows  how  to  apply  the  remedy.  She 
is  his  best  counselor  in  the  hours  of  anxiety  as  well  as  his 
surest  aid  in  the  darkest  hours  of  trial. 

As  the  sacred  duties  of  the  minister  of  the  Gospel  are 
numerous,  and  as  it  is  very  often  impossible  for  him  to  see 
and  do  everything  he  would  like  to  see  and  do,  she  supplies 
him  with  a  will,  zeal,  and  a  success  which  nobody  else  can 
equal. 

As  the  warm  and  shining  rays  of  the  sun  expel  the  damp 
atmosphere  and  the  darkness  from  the  house,  so  the  presence 
of  the  wife  of  the  minister  expels  the  chilly  and  dark  atmos- 
phere which  turns  the  house  of  the  poor  bachelor  priest  into 
a  hell  on  earth. 

Our  great  God  knew  well  what  He  meant  when  He  said,  "  It 
is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone,"  and  Paul  understood  well 
also,  the  meaning  of  this  sentence,  when  he  said,  "Let  every 
man  have  his  own  wife." 

Marriage  is  not  a  human  institution:  it  is  a  Divine  one,  in 
this  sense,  that  it  has  been  instituted  by  God  Himself.  The 
vows  of  celibacy  are  an  insult  to  God.  This  is  the  reason 
why  we  do  not  find  a  single  word  in  the  Bible  in  favour  of  the 
vows  of  celibacy.  Vows  of  celibacy  are  a  Pagan  institution. 
The  priests   of   Bacchus,   just  as  the  priests  of  Rome,  were 


God's   Mercies  in   Disguise  133 

bound  by  vows  of  celibacy.  To=day,  again,  the  priests  of  Vish- 
nu, in  India,  like  the  priests  of  Rome,  are  tied  by  the  impious 
vows  of  celibacy  before  becoming  the  priests  of  their  ugly 
idols. 

To  keep  his  fatal  and  criminal  vow  of  celibacy,  the  priest 
of  Rome  has  to  fight  against  one  of  the  most  sacred  as  well  as 
against  one  of  the  strongest  laws  of  his  own  nature,  and  in 
that  law  implanted  not  only  in  his  heart,  but  in  his  nerves,  in 
his  flesh,  in  his  bones,  in  every  drop  of  his  blood. 

It  is  not  against  a  giant  man,  nor  against  one  of  the  an- 
gels of  God,  man  has  to  fight  to  keep  his  vow  of  celibacy, 
but  it  is  against  his  great  God  himself,  he  has  to  fight! 

And  that  urgent  fight  has  to  be  renewed  every  hour  of  the 
day  as  well  as  every  hour  of  the  night! 

I  have  known  honest  but  deluded  priests  successfully  fight- 
ing all  their  lives  and  gaining  a  doubtful  victory  against  their 
God,  on  that  terrible  battle^ field.  But  for  one  who  had  con- 
quered in  that  desperate  battle,  of  his  whole  life,  I  have  seen 
ninety^nine  miserably  defeated  and  destroyed! 

Yes,  go  around  all  the  parsonages  of  the  3,000  priests  of 
Canada,  the  10,000  priests  of  the  United  States  and  the  30,000 
priests  of  France  and  I  challenge  you  to  find  more  than  one 
in  one  hundred  of  those  parsonages  in  connection  with 
which  there  is  no  bad  rumour.  And  if  you  can  find  one  in 
one  hundred  free  from  evil  report  I  pledge  myself  to  show 
you  ninety-nine  parsonages  in  respect  to  which  scandals  have 
come  out,  if  not  to  day,  the  day  before. 

Let  those  who  think  that  this  is  too  general  and  too  strong, 
read  the  last  mandement  of  one  of  the  Bishops  of  Louisiana. 
They  will  see  that  "  No  priest  in  his  diocese  shall  be  allowed 
to  preach  except  he  has  accepted  the  law  promulgated  that 
'  No  servant  girl  shall  be  kept  by  him  in  his  parsonage,  ex- 
cept when  she  will  be  in  a  room  where  no  door  will  be  placed 
in  such  a  way  that  the  priests  will  be  able  to  communicate 
with  her  through  it.'  " 

This  shows  you  that  the  Bishops  of  Rome  know  pretty  well 


134  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

how  their  priests  keep  their  vows  of  celibacy,  when  they  have 
the  chance  to  break  them.  And  why  is  it  that  this  law  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  is  that  no  priest  shall  keep  any  servant 
girl  in  his  house  younger  than  forty  years  old? 

Though  very  few  priests  ever  keep  that  regulation,  it  proves 
to  the  most  blind  on  that  subject,  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
herself  knows  that  the  vow  of  celibacy  is  a  sacrilegious  blind, 
a  sham,  a  fraud  for  the  great  majority. 

A  Princess  of  Italy,  who  was  a  nun  for  several  years,  Miss 
Henrietta  Carrociallo  (she  is  still  living),  in  her  famous  book, 
"  Mysteries  of  the  Neapolitan  Convents,"  tells  you  the  same 
thing. 

Within  my  own  j)ersonal  knowledge,  one  of  the  late  Su- 
periors of  St.  Sulpice  Seminary  of  Montreal,  Rev.  Quiblier, 
was  forced  to  leave  the  country  after  his  guilt  had  been 
proved  in  relation  to  very  many  of  his  penitents,  among  whom 
were  some  of  the  first  ladies  of  Montreal. 

The  Rev.  Guyliot  not  long  since  was  denounced  and  forced 
to  leave  Canada,  where  he  left  many  victims,  having  used 
largely  the  confessional  to  carry  on  his  satanic  work. 

Only  wilfully  blind  people,  to-day,  in  the  whole  world,  ig- 
nore how  the  priests  of  Rome  make  their  vow  of  celibacy  an 
easy  matter  through  the  dark  mysteries  of  Auricular  Confes- 
sion. 

I  had  been  the  sad  witness  of  those  hellish  mysteries  for 
twenty=five  years,  when  a  priest  of  that  Church.  How  I 
blessed  my  God  when  I  could  see  the  Christian  dignity,  the 
blessed  joys,  the  gospel  and  heroic  virtues  and  zeal  of  the 
married  Protestant  ministers!  How  happy  and  thankful  to 
my  God  I  was  when  I  could  compare  the  calm  and  Christian 
dignity  of  their  ministerial  lives  in  the  midst  of  their  fami- 
lies, with  the  ignominious  solitude,  the  almost  constant  scan- 
dalous, though  half  suffocated  rumours,  the  hell  on  earth,  of 
so  many  unfortunate  priests  of  Rome! 

I  then  blessed  God  with  all  my  heart  for  the  calamities 
which  had  forced  me  to  leave  my  sad  wilderness  to  come  and 


God's    Mercies  in   Disguise  13c 

explore  that  Promised  Land  which  was  then  mine.  In  the 
midst  of  that  land,  how  many  marvelous  things  I  had  found 
to  fill  the  minds  of  my  people  with  admiration  and  joy! 
With  the  spies  sent  by  Moses  to  explore  the  Promised 
Land,  I  could  say  to  my  people  on  my  return:  "Surely  the 
land  whither  you  sent  me  floweth  with  milk  and  honey:  and 
this  is  the  fruit  of  it:  the  people  that  dwelleth  in  the  land  is 
strong;  the  cities  are  walled  and  very  great.  And  there  we 
saw  the  giants,  and  we  were  in  our  own  sight  as  grasshop- 
pers, and  so  we  were  in  their  sight."  But  I  had  not  to  add: 
"  The  land  through  which  we  have  gone  to  search  eateth  its  in- 
habitants." It  was  the  contrary,  for,  after  all,  I  had  found 
nothing  but  kindness  and  heroic  charity  among  its  Christian 
people.  Surely  I  had  found  giants  in  that  land.  But  we 
had  nothing  to  fear  from  those  giants.  I  had  found  them  all 
enrolled  under  the  banners  of  the  Lamb  whose  blood  has 
been  shed  to  save  the  world,  and  they  had  put  their  mighty 
arms  at  our  service  to  help  us  to  fight  and  conquer  the  com- 
mon foe. 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  Debts  Paid 

"  He  was  wounded  for  our  transii^ressions,  He  was  bruised 
for  our  iiii(iuities:  the  chastisement  of  our  jDeace  was  upon 
Him;  and  with  His  stripes  we  are  healed. 

"  He  shall  justify  many,  for  He  shall  bear  their  iniquities." 
(Isaiah  53.) 

"  He  that  spared  not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered  Him  up 
for  us  all,  how  shall  He  not  with  Him  also  freely  give  Uh; 
all  things?"     (Rom.  8:32.) 

"  And  as  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness, 
even  so  must  the  Son  of  Man  be  lifted  up:  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life." 
(John  8: 14,  15.) 

"  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men 
unto  Me."     (John  12:32.) 

As  I  dated  the  blessed  hour  of  my  conversion  from  the 
moment  that  my  Saviour  came  to  me  as  the  one  who  had 
paid  my  debts  and  delivered  me  from  the  burden  of  my  sins 
by  taking  them  upon  Himself,  the  only  object  of  my  humble 
labours  and  prayers  since,  has  been  to  present  that  truth  to 
my  dear  countrymen  so  clearly  that  they  might  accept  it,  and 
be  happy  as  I  was  in  its  possession.  What  was  then  my  joy 
when  I  found  in  the  present  marvelous  mercies  of  God  for 
us,  the  most  admirable  arguments  and  comparisons  to  make 
them  grasp  and  understand  that  mystery  of  the  love  of  God. 
as  much  as  man  can  understand  it. 

The  second  time  I  came  back  from  the  East,  loaded  with 
the  donations  of  our  Christian  brethren  to  our  new  converts, 
they  had  come  to  receive  me  at  the  Kankakee  station  in  a  tri- 

ISG 


The  Debts   Paid 


137 


umphal  way,  in  order  to  give  me  a  public  expression  of  their 
grateful  feelings.  More  than  one  hundred  buggies  and 
waggons  overloaded  with  i^eople,  old  and  young,  with  flags  in 
their  hands,  preceded  my  carriage  on  my  way  home.  After 
saluting  them  and  on  reaching  the  town  of  St.  Anne,  I  re- 
quested them  to  stop  at  the  chapel  that  we  might  spend  a 
few  moments  in  singing  some  of  our  beautiful  French  hymns, 
and  bless  our  heavenly  Father  for  His  mercies  towards  us. 

After  giving  them  some  interesting  details  about  the  suc- 
cess of  my  last  efforts  in  collecting  what  we  wanted  to  save 
their  properties  from  the  hands  of  their  creditors,  I  asked 
and  obtained  permission  to  put  a  few  questions  to  them. 
Addressing,  then,  one  of  the  most  intelligent  among  them, 
I  asked  him  if  he  had  any  objection  to  tell  us  what  was 
the  amount  of  his  debt  to  the  money  lenders  of  Kankakee. 
"  The  amount  of  my  mortgage,"  he  answered,  "  was  $350  two 
months  ago."  "And  had  you  anything  to  pay  that?"  I 
asked  him.  "  I  had  not  a  cent,"  he  answered.  "  You  know 
how  I  lost  my  crops  by  the  frosts  and  the  deluge  which 
visited  us  these  last  two  years.  My  horses  and  my  cattle  had 
perished  as  well  from  the  bad  quality  of  the  food  as  from  the 
want  even  of  that  food."  "  Now,  do  you  owe  anything  yet, 
to-day?"  I  asked  him.  With  a  voice  half  suffocated  with 
emotion,  he  answered,  "No,  sir,  I  do  not  owe  a  single  cent; 
my  whole  debt  is  paid.  The  broker  whom  I  visited  last 
week,  to  my  great  surprise  and  joy,  told  me  that  before  start- 
ing for  your  last  trip  to  the  East,  you  went  to  his  office  and 
paid  all  that  I  owed.  He  added,  that  after  paying  the  last  cent, 
j'ou  had  taken  the  note  I  had  given  him  from  his  hands, 
torn  it  into  pieces,  and  thrown  the  fragments  into  the  fire 
in  order  that  nobody  could  ever  come  against  me  with  it." 

Addressing  the  same  dear  convert  again,  I  asked  him: 
"  Are  you  very  sure  that  this  is  not  a  fish  story  and  a  decep- 
tion? How  is  it  possible  that  your  debt  is  paid  to  the  last 
cent,  even  before  you  knew  it,  when  you  had  not  given  a 
cent?"     He  answered:  "lam  sure  that  there  is  no  deceit, 


138  Forty   Years  In  the  Church  of"  Christ 

no  imposture,  in  that  affair.  The  broker  who  told  me  that 
has  no  interest  to  deceive  me.  Besides  that,  I  know  that 
you  have  done  the  same  thing  for  many  others  here  around 
me.  It  is  a  well=known  fact  that  our  mortgages  have  been 
paid  either  by  yourself  or  by  the  committee  of  which  you  are 
president,  and  that  our  colony  does  not  owe  a  single  cent 
more  to  the  lenders  of  Kankakee;  and  we  have  no  words  to 
tell  you  our  joy,  our  gratitude  to  God,  and  to  the  benefactors 
who  have  thus  saved  us  from  a  sure  and  complete  ruin." 

After  this  honest  man  had  given  his  views  and  expressed 
his  gratitude  in  his  simple  language,  I  asked  him  if  he  did 
not  find  any  comparison  between  this  fact  and  the  great  mys- 
tery of  the  salvation  of  the  world  through  Christ,  which 
was  the  fundamental  truth  of  the  Gospel  religion  we  had 
lately  accepted.  "  Yes,  sir,"  he  quickly  answered,  "  there  is 
a  great  similitude  between  these  two  facts.  For,  just  as  our 
Christian  friends  of  the  East  have  paid  our  debts  to  the 
last  cent,  through  you,  so  our  heavenly  Father  had  sent  His 
Son  Jesus  to  pay  our  debts  to  His  eternal  justice,  by  shed- 
ding His  blood  to  the  last  drop,  and  dying  on  the  cross.  In 
both  cases  the  debts  have  been  paid,  and  the  debtors  saved 
from  their  creditors  without  paying  a  farthing.  Our  new 
Christian  brethren  of  Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston, 
have  done  for  us  in  a  material  way  what  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ  has  done  in  a  spiritual  way  for  this  perishing  world." 

Then  one  of  the  crowd  in  the  back  seats  said:  "The  com- 
parison is  not  quite  correct,  for  when  our  Saviour  paid  our 
debts.  He  did  not  ask  us  to  sign  any  obligation  to  repay  that 
to  other  people,  but  the  committee  (called  Chiuiquy  Commit- 
tee) has  forced  several  of  us,  and  I,  one  of  them,  to  sign  a 
paper  by  which  we  promise  to  give  a  certain  rent  according 
to  what  was  given  us,  to  support  a  high  school  or  college  in 
our  midst." 

These  unexpected  remarks  came  as  a  thunderbolt  in  a  clear 
sky  and  they  seemed  to  make  a  deep  impression. 

I  thought  it  my  duty  to  answer  and  explain  the  mistake  of 


The  Debts  Paid  1^9 

that  good  brother.  "Do  you  not  remember,"  I  said,  "  that  in 
the  beautiful  parable  of  the  rich  man  who  had  remitted  the 
debt  of  his  poor  debtor  there  was  the  secret  but  binding  con- 
dition that  the  one  to  whom  the  debt  had  been  remitted,  was 
obliged  to  do  the  same  thing  to  his  debtors?  So  it  is  with 
you,  my  dear  friends:  do  not  think  that  the  marvelous  favours 
our  heavenly  Father  has  granted  you  do  not  impose  any 
obligation  upon  you.  The  admirable  Christians  of  the  East 
are  Protestants  as  you  are  to=day.  With  you  they  protest 
against  the  religion  of  Rome,  which  deceives  the  world  by 
teaching  that  the  sinners  are  relieved  from  their  sins  by 
going  to  confess  to  a  priest  and  by  doing  penances,  abstaining 
from  meat  on  certain  days  or  by  gaining  indulgence,  etc. 
These  new  brethren  believe,  like  you,  that  they  were  sinners. 
Through  their  sins  they  had  contracted  a  heavy  debt  to  the 
justice  of  God.  They  even  believe  that  that  debt  was  so 
great,  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  i)ay  it.  .  .  .  But 
they  believe,  as  you  do  to=day,  that  God  so  much  loved  them, 
that  He  sent  His  eternal  Son,  Jesus,  to  pay  that  debt,  by 
sufPering  the  most  terrible  humiliations,  agonies  and  death. 
However,  these  admirable  Christians  of  Philadelphia,  New 
York  and  Boston,  do  not  rest  there.  They  believe  that  Christ 
has  put  upon  every  one  of  them  an  obligation  to  love  you  as 
He  loved  them,  to  help  you  as  He  helped  them.  They  be- 
lieve, in  a  word,  that  they  have  only  performed  one  of  their 
Christian  duties  in  doing  for  you  in  a  material  way  what 
Christ  had  done  for  them  in  a  spiritual  way. 

"Now  do  not  forget  it.  By  accepting  Christ  and  His  Gospel 
for  your  guide,  you  have  accepted  the  obligation  to  do  to 
each  other  what  Christ  has  done  for  you.  You  must  bear  the 
burden  of  each  other.  Your  life  must  be  spent  in  doing 
good  to  each  other.  The  strong  must  help  the  weak,  the  rich 
must  help  the  poor.  The  fathers,  more  than  ever  in  the  past, 
must  consecrate  their  resources,  not  only  to  the  material,  but 
to  the  moral  and  intellectual  advancement  of  their  children. 
This  is  why  the  committee  has  wisely  invited  you  to  take  the 


140  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

public  obligation  to  consecrate  the  interest  of  the  large  sums 
of  money  sent  you,  to  the  support  of  a  high  school  or  a  col- 
lege where  your  own  children  will  learn  to  become  good 
citizens  and  good  Christians.  Remark  that  it  is  not  in  favour 
of  strangers  and  peoj^le  at  a  long  distance,  but  that  it  is  in 
favour  of  yourselves  (for  your  children  are  surely  a  part,  if 
not  the  better  part,  of  yourselves)  that  you  have  contracted 
that  sacred  obligation.  It  is  the  knowledge  and  practice  of 
that  law  that  makes  the  Protestant  nations  so  superior  to  the 
Roman  Catholics.  It  is  to  the  knowledge  and  practice  of 
that  divine  law  of  mutual  love  and  charity  that  you  owe 
to=day,  the  marvelous  change  of  your  position  and  the  un- 
speakable joy  which  fills  your  hearts.  Surely  you  cannot 
regret  that  the  committee  has  invited  you  to  accept  that  lov- 
ing favour  for  yourselves  and  your  children." 

When  I  saw  that  these  remarks  had  been  well  understood, 
I  said:  "  This  humble  house  of  prayer,  after  witnessing  our 
tears  of  desolation,  is  to  day  the  witness  of  our  joys:  I  hope 
it  will  soon  be  the  witness  of  our  perfect  consecration  to  the 
service  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  our  countrymen  who  are 
still  under  the  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke  of  the  Pope. 
Wherever  I  have  been,  through  the  Eastern  and  New  Eng- 
land States,  I  have  seen  an  incredible  number  of  French 
Canadian  emigrants  working  in  the  factories.  The  greatest 
part  of  them  has  been  forced  to  leave  Canada  to  escape  the 
tyranny  and  the  rapacity  of  their  Roman  Catholic  priests. 
For  as  soon  as  they  have  a  cent  in  Canada,  you  know  it  well, 
they  must  give  it  for  the  souls  in  purgatory,  scapularies, 
medals,  images  of  saints — or  they  must  give  it  to  sing  masses 
to  get  rain  if  the  weather  is  dry,  or  to  stop  the  rain  if  there 
is  too  much  of  it.  What  then  remains  of  their  money  is 
given  to  build  splendid  cathedrals  with  the  palatial  parson- 
ages and  nunneries  which  cover  the  country. 

"Though  still  nominal  Roman  Catholics  their  faith  is  much 
shaken.  Many  are  free  thinkers  and  infidels,  for  they  have 
already  too  much  intelligence  to  boliovo  the  mummeries   of 


The  Debts  Paid  141 

the  Church  of  Rome.  But  they  know  nothing  of  the  Gospel, 
for  they  have  no  one  to  give  them  its  Divine  and  soul=saving 
doctrines. 

"  Many  of  those  dear  countrymen  have  come  to  me  and  I 
could  not  refrain  my  tears  of  compassion  when  some  of  them 
have  said,  '  Can  you  not  come  to  teach  us  the  Gospel  as  you 
have  done  in  Illinois,  or  can  you  not  send  some  one  to  do  it 
in  your  place?"  The  thought  then  came  to  me  that  it  was  an 
obligation  to  all  here  to  grant  them  their  petition.  In  the 
midst  of  so  many  new  converts  we  must  hope  that  the  God 
of  the  Gospel  has  already  chosen  some  to  go  and  give  the 
bread  of  life  to  those  perishing  souls.  Are  there  not  here 
some  mothers  and  fathers  who  will  offer  their  sons  to  the 
Lord  for  that  holy  work?  Are  there  not  here  among  you,  our 
dear  young  men,  some  who  will  be  happy  to  say  to  their 
Saviour,  '  Here,  I  am  ready  to  go  at  any  risk  and  peril  to 
preach  the  Gospel  to  those  who  do  not  know  it  yet.'  Let 
some  prayers  go  to  the  Mercy  Seat  in  every  family,  from  to-day 
to  next  Sabbath,  in  order  to  know  the  will  of  God  on  that 
solemn  question.  Though  I  have  not  a  cent,  to-day,  in  hand, 
for  that  great  and  glorious  work,  my  trust  in  God  is  so  great, 
that  I  pledge  myself  to  find  the  means  we  want  for  the  young 
men  among  us  who  will  hear  and  obey  the  voice  of  heaven 
when  calling  them  to  spread  the  light  of  the  Gospel  among 
our  Roman  Catholic  countrymen." 

And  with  a  short  prayer  and  the  singing  of  a  hymn  I  dis- 
missed the  people. 


CHAPTER  XII 

New   Labourers  in  the   Lord's  Vineyard 

"  r/ie  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  labourers  are  few;  Pray  ye 
therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He  will  send  forth  labourers  into  His 
harvest." 

The  Lord  of  the  harvest  had  heard  the  humble  but  ardent 
supplications  of  our  dear  converts  during  that  memorable 
week. 

There  was  not  a  father  who,  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart, 
had  not  secretly  asked  the  Good  Master  to  take  one  of  his 
sons  to  work  in  His  blessed  vineyard.  There  was  not  a 
mother  who  had  not  offered  some  of  her  beloved  ones  on  the 
altar  of  her  Christian  love  to  spread  the  Gospel.  And  many 
of  our  boys  had  said:  "Beloved  Saviour,  here  I  am:  com- 
mand, and  I  will  obey." 

Twice  during  the  week  we  had  had  public  meetings  in  the 
chapel,  to  pray  the  "  Lord  of  the  Harvest "  to  make  His  own 
choice  among  our  young  men,  and  to  fill  the  hearts  of  those 
whom  He  would  choose  with  His  Holy  Spirit. 

At  the  morning  assembly  of  the  next  Sabbath  we  had  an 
immense  meeting.  The  weather  was  splendid,  and  our  large 
chapel  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

I  had  taken  for  my  text  the  first  verses  of  the  sublime 
one  hundred  and  fifth  Psalm,  "O  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord; 
call  upon  His  name:  make  known  His  deeds  among  the  people, 

"  Sing  unto  Him,  sing  psalms  unto  Him:  talk  ye  of  all  His 
wondrous  works : 

"  O  ye  seed  of  Abraham,  ye  children  of  Jacob  His  chosen.'' 

After  bringing  to  their  memory  the  marvelous  things  the 
Lord  had  done,  by  breaking  the  chains  which  had  kept  them 

142 


New   Labourers  in   the   Lord's  Vineyard        143 

so  many  years  tied  to  the  feet  of  the  idols  of  Rome,  I  made 
them  remember  their  desolation  at  the  ruin  of  their  crops, 
which  had  forced  them  to  mortgage  their  j)roperties  at  such 
conditions  that  they  could  not  be  saved  from  a  complete  ruin 
without  a  miracle  of  the  mercies  of  God. 

"  But  you  understand,  dear  brethren, "  I  added,  "  that  when 
our  great  God  performed  that  miracle  of  His  mercies,  He  im- 
posed upon  you  the  sweet  obligations  of  gratitude.  Your 
own  consciences  as  well  as  your  intelligences  tell  you  that 
you  have  something  to  do,  even  before  the  world,  to  show 
that  you  understand  what  has  been  done  for  you.  Now  let 
me  mention  some  of  those  obligations. 

"  First,  with  Joshua,  let  every  one  of  you  say  from  his  heart: 
'As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord.'  Yes; 
let  that  great  God,  who  has  brought  you  out  of  a  slavery  a 
hundredfold  more  degrading  and  oppressive  than  that  of  the 
Egyptians,  be  your  Ruler,  your  King,  as  He  has  shown  Him- 
self your  merciful  Father. 

"  Second,  let  every  family  of  St.  Anne  be  as  a  tower  of  light^ 
so  bright  that  it  will  be  seen  from  a  far  distance,  to  expel  the 
dark  night  of  the  errors  of  Rome  from  our  colony.  .  .  . 
But  there  is  another  obligation  of  which  I  said  a  word  the 
other  day  on  my  return  from  the  East.  Some  of  your  sons 
must  be  called  to  preach  the  Gospel.  O!  let  them  obey  the 
appeal!  Let  them  heroically  be  ready  to  give  up  home, 
father,  mother,  brother,  and  sister,  to  follow  Christ  and  help 
me  to  spread  the  Gospel  truths  among  the  multitudes  of  our 
countrymen  who  are  scattered  everywhere  in  the  cities  as 
well  as  in  the  country  places  of  the  United  States.  This  is 
the  third  and  most  sacred  obligation  we  have  contracted  to- 
wards our  God  when  we  have  accepted  the  great  and  many 
tokens  of  His  mercies." 

My  whole  address  was  then  on  the  privilege  and  honour 
of  being  associated  with  the  Apostles  of  Christ  when  preach- 
ing the  Gospel,  and  saving  the  precious  souls  for  which  He 
shed  His  precious  blood  on  the  cross. 


144  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

I  ended  by  saying:  "  Let  us  spend  this  whole  day  in  hum- 
ble supplications  to  the  throne  of  mercy  for  those  whom  the 
beloved  Saviour  will  choose,  that  He  may  give  them  the 
courage  to  follow  His  voice,  and  consecrate  themselves  to 
His  service.  This  evening,  at  the  end  of  the  meeting,  I  will 
call  those  who  have  heard  the  voice  of  the  Good  Master  to 
come  forward  bravely  and  publicly,  that  we  may  know  and 
bless  them,  and  that  we  may  offer  them  to  the  Lord,  as  the 
most  precious  otfering  we  can  present  Him." 

My  request  had  been  well  understood.  The  hours  between 
the  two  public  services  of  that  day  were,  almost  every- 
where, spent  in  fervent  prayer  At  last  the  hour  of  the 
evening  service  arrived.  The  crowd  was  so  great  that  the 
chapel  could  hardly  contain  them  all.  Every  one  was 
anxious  to  know  who  among  our  young  men  would  come 
forward  and  offer  themselves  to  preach  the  Gospel.  This 
was  a  secret  known  only  to  God;  for  not  a  single  one  of  them 
had  said  a  word  about  it  to  anybody — not  even  his  parents. 
I,  myself,  was  as  ignorant  as  the  rest  of  the  people  on  that 
affair.  The  subject  of  my  evening  address  was:  "  The  Church 
of  Rome  was  the  great  Babylon  which  had  corrupted  the 
world  with  the  cup  of  her  enchantments,  idolatries,  and  im- 
purities. But  the  time  was  approaching  when  the  Lamb 
would  destroy  it  by  calling  those  for  whom  He  had  shed  His 
blood  out  of  her  walls."  I  showed  them  that,  in  the 
marvelous  providence  of  God,  we  were  the  first  people  who, 
as  a  whole  community,  had  been  called  out  of  that  Babylon, 
on  the  continent  of  America;  but  I  assured  them  that  we 
were  not  to  be  the  last.     Our  example  would  be  followed. 

I  gave  the  names  of  many  places  where  Roman  Catholics, 
by  hundreds,  had  already  expressed  to  me  their  desire  to 
break  the  yoke  of  the  Pope.  I  told  them  that  they  were  only  the 
vanguard  of  an  army  called  by  the  great  Captain  of  our  sal- 
vation to  fight  and  destroy  Rome  on  the  continent  of  America; 
that  we  had  only  to  keep  ourselves  faithfully  united  around 


New  Labourers  In  the   Lord's  Vineyard        145 

the  blessed  banners  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  Grod  of  heaven 
would  soon  give  us  the  most  glorious  victory,  etc. 

After  the  address,  I  said:  "  Let  us  kneel  and  pray  silently 
our  merciful  God  to  make  the  choice  of  His  own  ambassadors, 
and  give  them  the  courage  to  come  forward  that  we  may 
know  and  bless  them."     And  we  knelt. 

The  silence  of  that  vast  multitude,  humbly  prostrated,  was 
very  solemn.  After  three  or  four  minutes,  I  broke  the  silence 
by  saying:  "  Dear  young  men  of  St.  Anne,  who  have  given 
your  hearts  to  Christ,  the  beloved  Saviour,  after  washing  your 
souls  in  His  blood,  and  who  wish  to  spread  the  knowledge  of 
His  mercies  and  His  love  among  those  who  do  not  know  them, 
please  come  forward  around  me,  that  we  may  know  and  bless 
you." 

A  pretty  long  silence  followed  my  appeal;  but  many  mothers' 
and  fathers'  hearts  were  beating  hard  within  their  breasts  in 
the  anxiety  to  know  if  one  of  their  boys  was  to  be  among  those 
called  to  be  the  blessed  minister  of  that  Gospel  which  was 
now  so  precious  to  them. 

At  last  we  heard  a  little  noise  in  the  back  seat.  It  was  one 
of  our  dearest  young  men,  who,  rising  uj)  from  his  knees,  was 
walking  with  a  slow  step  and  a  face  beaming  with  all  the 
marks  of  true  piety  and  courage.  All  along  the  way,  the  peo- 
ple had  to  rise  from  their  knees  to  let  him  pass  through  the 
aisles.  From  every  side  we  heard  whispers:  "May  the  Lord 
bless  you."  He  had  hardly  been  half  a  minute  near  me,  when 
another  one  from  another  place  in  the  church  came  and  took 
his  place  by  the  side  of  the  first  one,  and  then  another  and 
another,  till  thirty=three  fine  young  soldiers  of  Christ  were 
forming  a  line  between  the  people  and  me. 

No  pen  can  give  a  true  idea  of  the  sentiments  of  joy  and 
surprise  of  the  people  at  the  sight  of  that  numerous  band  of 
brave  boys  coming  to  enroll  themselves  under  the  banners  of 
the  Gospel.  Tears  of  joy  were  flowing  on  every  cheek.  But 
the  most  happy  of  all  were  the  loving  fathers  and   mothers 


146  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

who  saw  their  beloved  boys  marching,  with  a  firm  step,  to 
join  the  recruits  of  the  armies  of  the  Lord. 

Beside  myself  with  joy,  I  took  every  one  of  them  by  the 
hand,  and  I  presented  them,  in  the  name  of  the  whole  people, 
to  the  Divine  Conqueror  of  souls  as  the  best  offerings  we 
could  present  to  Him  in  return  for  what  He  had  done  for  us 

The  rest  of  the  evening  service  was  a  thanksgiving  one 
It  was  very  late  at  night  when  we  left  our  humble  but  dear 
chapel,  our  souls  embalmed  with  such  feelings  of  gratitude 
to  God  as  no  human  words  can  express. 

Before  dismissing  our  dear  young  Christian  recruits,  I  in- 
vited them  to  come  the  next  day  and  spend  the  afternoon 
with  me,  that  I  might  give  them  my  plans  for  their  future. 

The  hope  of  having,  in  the  near  future,  so  many  helpers  in 
my  evangelical  labours  was  opening  new  horizons  before  me 
New  blood,  I  dare  say,  was  put  into  my  veins.  I  felt  a  new 
courage  and  Christian  strength  in  my  heart. 

Already  more  than  two  hundred  heads  of  Roman  Catholic 
families,  all  French  Canadians,  had  given  me  their  names,  in 
Chicago,  as  renouncing  the  errors  of  Rome  to  accept  the  Gos- 
pel for  their  only  rule  of  faith;  forty=five  in  Ottawa,  fifteen  in 
Joliet,  forty  in  Middleport,  one  hundred  in  Kankakee  City,  and 
more  than  two  hundred  in  the  surrounding  cities  in  Illinois, 
Indiana,  and  Michigan  had  done  the  same  thing,  though 
I  had  visited  them  only  a  few  times.  What  could  I  do,  if 
left  alone,  to  cultivate  such  large  and  promising  fields?  But 
with  the  hope  that  my  merciful  God  would  give  me  so  many 
helpers,  the  future  was  suddenly  becoming  as  bright  as  it 
had  been  cloudy  till  now.  The  first  thing  I  had  to  do  was 
to  give  them  able,  Christian  teachers,  and  in  the  good  provi- 
dence of  God  we  soon  found  them,  and  I  soon  got  the  means 
I  wanted  for  that. 

But  before  long  I  found  that  the  absence  of  one  or  two  of 
their  young  men  was  too  much  for  our  farmers,  who  were 
obliged  to  engage  strangers  to  take  their  places  in  the  fields 

I   engaged    myself  to  give  $8.00  a  month  to   help  each 


New   Labourers  in  the   Lord's  Vineyard       147 

family  in  getting  a  supply  for  the  one  whom  I  retained  in 
our  modest  preparatory  college,  which  we  called,  "  The  Sav- 
iour's College." 

I  do  not  want  the  reader  to  believe  that  every  one  of  these 
young  men  became  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  for  some  of 
them  had  to  give  up  their  classes  for  want  of  health,  some 
were  killed  in  the  Civil  War,  where  they  had  to  go  and  fight 
the  Southern  army,  a  few  changed  their  minds  and  took 
other  positions;  but  we  always  tried  to  keep  the  same  num- 
ber in  that  company.  As  in  the  war,  when  one  falls  on  the 
battle= field,  his  place  is  as  soon  taken  by  another  one,  so  we 
succeeded,  in  the  good  providence  of  God,  to  find  new  ones 
to  take  the  places  of  those  who  were  missing  from  the  rank 
and  file.  We  now  count  fifteen  ordained  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  from  among  the  young  converts  of  our  first  congre- 
gation of  St.  Anne.  One  of  them,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boudreau, 
is  the  pastor  of  our  congregation  of  St.  Anne,  which  I  put 
into  his  hands  in  my  eightieth  year  of  age. 

To  push  these  young  men  through  their  studies  till  their 
ordination  to  the  ministry,  we  had  to  meet  terrible  obstacles 
and  to  overcome  the  most  formidable  opposition  from  the 
very  men  who  ought  to  have  helped  us.  But  with  the  aid  of 
God  we  have  gone  through  all  diflSculties,  and  pulled  down 
all  the  obstacles.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  after  these  dear  young 
men  had  studied  two,  three  and  four  years  in  our  preparatory 
modest  Saviour's  College,  we  sent  them  to  the  colleges  of 
Montreal,  Toronto  or  Chicago  to  finish  their  course  of 
philosophy  and  theology.  It  is  now  my  unspeakable  joy 
to  see  fifteen  of  them  working  with  me  with  great  zeal  and 
success  for  the  conversion  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  their 
respective  fields. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

•  A  Macedonian  Cry  from  Canada 

"  And  a  vision  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night.  There  stood 
a  man  of  Macedonia,  and  prayed,  saying:  Come  over  to  Mace- 
donia and  help  us."     (Acts  16:  9.) 

Two  very  important  letters  had  been  addressed  to  me  from 
Quebec  and  Montreal  in  the  beginning  of  January,  1859. 
The  first  was  signed  by  about  five  hundred  well-known 
names, — the  second  by  about  one  hundred  of  the  principal 
Roman  Catholic  French  Canadians  of  the  latter  city. 

Both  letters  were  pressing  invitations  to  go  and  address 
them  on  my  reasons  for  leaving  the  Roman  Church. 

Many  times  before  receiving  these  letters,  the  thought  had 
come  to  me  that  it  was  my  duty  to  go  to  Canada  and  attack 
the  Church  of  Rome  there,  in  her  very  stronghold.  But  I 
had  i)ostponed  that  work  on  account  of  the  formidable  diffi- 
culties and  dangers  connected  with  it.  No  two  other  places, 
probably,  in  the  whole  world,  could  be  found,  where  Rome  is 
so  strong  as  Quebec  and  Montreal.  To  go  and  attack  that 
giant  power  where  it  was  surrounded  and  protected  by  its 
most  impregnable  citadels  and  armed  with  its  most  terrible 
weapons  seemed  to  me  a  foolish  thing, — a  sure  suicide. 

Such  was  my  way  of  reasoning  till  I  received  these  two 
letters.  But  my  views  had  to  be  modified  and  changed  after 
their  recei^tion.  How  could  I  shut  my  ears  to  the  cries  of 
those  precious,  but  perishing  souls,  who  were  so  pressingly 
asking  me  to  go  and  give  them  the  bread  of  life? 

At  the  voice  of  one  Macedonian,  heard  through  a  vision  of 
the  night,  Paul  had  left  everything  to  meet  the  appeal.  Was 
it  not  my  duty  to  go,  when,  not  called  by  only  one  voice 
through  a  night  vision,  but  by  so  many  hundreds,  and  in  such 

lis 


A  Macedonian   Cry  from   Canada  149 

a  public  and  solemn  way?  Having  been  assured  by  Mr. 
Gustave  Demers,  our  ablest  young  evangelist,  and  Mr. 
Gauthier,  our  principal  high  school  teacher,  that  they  would 
give  the  Sabbath  instruction  during  my  absence,  I  deter- 
mined to  start  the  last  week  of  January  to  go  and  work  one 
or  two  months  in  Canada. 

I  will  not  speak  of  the  distress  of  the  people  of  St.  Anne 
when  I  told  them  that  resolution  from  the  pulpit  the  next 
Sabbath.  With  tears  and  sobs  they  asked  me  not  to  go  and 
expose  myself  to  such  evident  dangers  in  Canada.  I  an- 
swered them  that  I  felt  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  I  should 
go;  that  my  trust  was  in  Him  for  protection.  They  would 
pray  for  me,  day  and  night,  during  my  absence,  and  I  would 
come  back  to  them  full  of  a  new  strength,  after  sowing  the 
good  seed  in  our  dear  Canada,  where  the  good  Master  would 
bless  it,  and  make  it  grow  one  hundred  fold  in  the  hearts  of 
their  brothers,  sisters  and  friends  who  were  longing  after  it. 

When  on  my  way  to  Montreal  I  had  to  spend  a  day  in 
Toronto.  I  was  not  there  three  hours,  when  I  received  a  letter 
from  the  provincial  Sub.  Secretary,  Mr.  Parent,  telling  me: 

"His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  in  an  informal  conver- 
sation yesterday  about  you,  has  expressed  the  desire  that  I 
should  try  to  dissuade  you  from  going  to  the  Province  of 
Quebec  to  preach  against  the  Church  of  Rome.  Your  pres- 
ence there  for  such  an  object  will  probably  bring  riots 
which  the  government  will  not  be  strong  enough  to  pre 
vent  or  to  stop.  You  know  how  Gavazzi,  not  long  ago. 
came  very  near  to  being  murdered,  and  how  many  were  killed 
and  wounded  around  him.  Let  this  deplorable  fact  teach 
you  to  be  more  prudent;  please  do  not  raise  difficulties  or 
conflicts  in  the  Province  of  Quebec,  of  which  you  may  be  the 
first  victim.  Allow  me  to  give  you  the  same  advice.  Do  not 
shut  your  ears  to  the  voice  of 

"Your  most  devoted  friend, 
"  Etienne  Pakent 

*'  Sub.  Secretary." 


150  Forty   Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

I  answered: 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Parent: — 

"  Please  accept  for  yourself  and  give  to  his  Excellency  the 
assurance  of  my  j^ratitude  for  the  interest  you  take  in  my 
safety.  But  remember  that  I  am  now  a  soldier  of  Christ, 
enrolled  under  the  sacred  banner  of  His  cross.  If  I  have  to 
shed  my  blood  and  die  when  fiojlitin^  for  its  triumph  over  its 
enemies,  in  our  dear  Canada,  that  blood  will  not  have  been 
shed  in  vain,  and  my  death  will  be  the  most  desirable  one  I 
can  wish  for. 

"  Truly  yours, 

"C.  Chiniquy." 

When  on  my  way  from  Toronto  to  Montreal,  at  several 
stations  I  received  threatening  telegrams,  telling  me  that  I 
was  to  be  attacked  on  my  arrival.  But  as  these  threats  were 
not  signed  by  any  known  persons,  I  did  not  pay  any  attention 
to  them,  thinking  they  were  only  designed  to  frighten  me. 

I  was,  however,  to  see  the  reality  of  the  danger  when  the 
train  arrived  at  the  Montreal  station,  the  first  of  February. 
A  dense  but  silent  multitude,  such  as  I  had  never  before  seen 
at  any  station,  was  there,  evidently  looking  with  anxiety  for 
the  arrival  of  somebody. 

Suspecting  that  I  was  the  object  of  these  anxious  lookers- 
on,  I  thought  that  prudence  required  me  to  conceal  myself  as 
much  as  I  could.  I  had  a  fur  overcoat:  I  raised  it  in  such 
a  way  that  my  face  was  perfectly  concealed;  my  eyes  only 
could  be  seen. 

With  the  hope  that  no  one  would  recognize  me,  I  went 
down  from  the  cars,  and  walked  two  or  three  steps  through 
the  dense  crowd  where  everyone  was  whispering  around  me, 
"  Where  is  he?     Where  is  he?  " 

The  accents  of  the  voices,  as  well  as  the  features  of  the 
multitude,  told  me  that  I  was  in  the  midst  of  a  mob  of  furi- 
ous and  bloodthirsty  Irishmen.  All  of  them  were  armed 
with  sticks,  which  they  were  brandishing  over  their  heads. 


A   Macedonian   Cry  from  Canada  151 

Of  course  this  made  me  more  determined  than  ever  to  keep 
incognito,  I  pushed  as  hard  as  possible  through  the  crowd, 
but  it  was  so  dense  that  it  was  difficult  to  move  on.  My  anxi- 
ety was  increasing  with  the  incessant  demands,  at  first  whis- 
pered but  soon  loudly  uttered:  "  Where  is  he?  Where  is  he? 
Thed apostate!" 

At  last  a  loud  voice  was  heard  at  a  pretty  long  distance 
from  me,  in  French,  "  Le  P^re  Chiniquy  est-il  ici?"  "Is 
Father  Chiniquy  here?"  I  confess  it  to  my  shame:  that 
voice  sent  a  thrill  of  terror  through  my  whole  frame,  when  I 
felt  sure  that  the  multitude  which  surrounded  me  was  com- 
posed of  Irish  Roman  Catholics  (many  of  them  drunk) 
evidently  there  to  murder  me. 

My  only  chance  of  escape  was  to  remain  incognito,  till  I 
could  find  a  sleigh  to  take  me  to  my  hotel. 

The  first  cry,  "  Le  PSre  Chiniquy  est-il  ici?  "Is  Father 
Chiniquy  here?"  had  been  followed  by  a  deadly  silence;  but 
bloody  eyes,  such  as  I  have  never  seen,  were  looking  sharply 
on  every  side,  when  the  lips,  now  more  free,  were  filling  the 
air  with  enraged  voices:  "Where  is  he?  The  d apos- 
tate!" 

Praying  my  God  to  protect  and  shield  me,  I  was  more  and 
more  trying  to  make  my  way  through  that  unpleasant  crowd, 
when  another  voice  was  heard  asking,  with  a  very  strong 
and  energetic  accent,  "  Est-ce  que  le  P^re  Chiniquy  n'est 
pas  \h  quelque  part?"  "  Is  not  Father  Chiniquy  somewhere 
here?"  But  by  this  time  the  voice  was  very  near,  not  two 
feet  distant  from  me.  Though  I  had  no  idea  that  the  voice 
was  a  friendly  one,  and,  though  I  was  still  under  the  impres- 
sion that  that  whole  crowd  was  composed  of  people  thirsting 
for  my  blood,  I  felt  so  ashamed  of  my  cowardice  that,  with  a 
still  louder  voice  I  answered,  "  Oui,  le  P6re  Chiniquy  est  ici. 
Que  lui  voulez-vous?"  "  Yes,  Father  Chiniquy  is  here.  What 
do  you  want  of  him?  "  The  last  syllable  was  still  on  my  lips, 
when,  as  quickly  as  a  flash  of  lightning,  I  saw  a  great  num- 
ber of  people  rushing  around  me  from  every  side.     But  they 


152  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

were  pushing  themselves  with  such  energy  that  no  one  could 
stand  bofcre  them.  Those  who  were  not  in  the  secret  of  this 
movement,  were  falling  on  every  side  like  the  grass  when  the 
irresistible  torrent  suddenly  rushes  from  the  mountain. 

Absolutely  unable  at  first  to  understand  what  this  new 
noise  and  tumult  meant,  I  stood  a  moment  amazed  and  be- 
wildered. But  the  mystery  was  soon  explained,  when  a 
friendly  voice  whispered  in  my  ear:  "  Ne  sortez  pas  de  nos 
rangs.  Nous  sommes  des  amis  accourus  pour  sauver  votre  vie 
menac^e  par  une  troupe  d'Irlandais  ivres  et  furieux  qui 
veulent  vous  assassiner."  i.  e.,  "  Do  not  move  out  of  our 
ranks.  We  are  friends  coming  to  protect  you  against  a  band 
of  Irish  drunkards  who  want  to  kill  you."  In  less  than  a 
minute,  I  found  myself  surrounded  by  three  circles  of  brave 
and  well  armed  French  Canadian  countrymen. 

Knowing  that  there  was  a  plot  in  the  lowest  classes  of  the 
Irish  Catholics  to  take  away  my  life  when  I  would  arrive  at 
the  station,  seventy^five  intelligent  and  fearless  young  coun- 
trymen had  formed  a  secret  association  under  the  name  of 
"  Francs  Fr^res,"  and  they  had  drilled  themselves  in  the  most 
perfect  way  for  several  days,  in  order  to  be  able  to  go  through 
the  crowd  with  the  swiftness  and  power  of  an  irresistible 
hurricane,  and  to  form  three  impenetrable  rings  around  me. 

I  felt  that  my  merciful  God  had  looked  in  His  mercy  on  His 
unprofitable  servant.  He  had  chosen  those  dear  young  country- 
men as  (lie  angels  of  His  mercy  to  save  my  life  in  that  hour, 
when  so  many  were  engaged  to  take  it  away.  I  blessed  Him 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart.  I  felt  absolutely  safe  in  the 
midst  of  those  three  rings.  I  would  have  pitied  the  poor 
Irishmen  who  would  have  tried  to  go  through  those  circles  to 
strike  me. 

My  generous  friends  had  in  readiness  a  number  of  sleighs 
to  take  us  to  the  St.  Lawrence  Hall  where  they  had  engaged 
the  best  rooms  for  me,  including  the  beautiful  large  parlour, 
for  the  price  of  $50.00  a  day. 


A  Macedonian   Cry   from   Canada  i  ^2 

One  of  the  leaders  of  that  band  of  dear  countrymen,  was 
Guibord,  whose  burial  was  to  make  so  much  noise  a  few  years 
later. 

What  was  my  surprise  and  joy  when  those  friends,  giving 
me  their  names  after  our  arrival  at  the  hotel,  I  found  that 
they  were  the  6lite  of  the  literary  as  well  as  the  cream  of 
our  best  and  wealthiest  French  Canadian  families  of  Mon- 
treal. With  only  one  exception  they  all  belonged  to  the 
Church  of  Rome. 

To  understand  better  my  feelings  of  admiration  and  grati- 
tude, let  the  reader  remember  that  the  previous  Sabbath,  the 
Bishop  of  Montreal  had  ordered  a  mandement  to  be  read  in 
all  the  pulpits,  forbidding  the  Roman  Catholics  to  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  me.  To  speak  to  me  or  hear  me  was  a  dam- 
ning crime,  for  which  they  would  be  excommunicated.  And 
that  mandement  had  been  published  in  all  the  French  daily 
papers. 

The  actions  of  those  dear  countrymen  who,  in  spite  of  such 
a  threat,  had  exposed  their  lives  to  protect  mine,  and  who 
were  surrounding  me  in  that  splendid  parlour,  and  overwhelm- 
ing me  with  all  the  tokens  of  their  respect,  w-as  already  the 
assurance  of  a  more  glorious  victory  over  Rome  than  I  had 
ever  expected.  They  remained  with  me  till  twelve  at  night, 
then  left  me  after  having  concerted  the  plans  of  campaign  for 
the  rest  of  the  month,  with  the  utmost  prudence  and  wisdom. 
But  before  leaving,  they  granted  me  the  favour  I  had  asked,  to 
read  the  one  hundred  and  third  Psalm:  " Bless  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul!   And  let  all  that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name." 

And  when  alone  I  read  again  the  so  simple  and  sublime 
expressions  of  the  gratitude  of  David  for  the  mercies  of  his 
God.  In  fact,  where  could  I  find  words  more  appropriate  to 
express  what  I  felt,  after  such  narrow  escapes  and  such  mar- 
velous protection  in  the  very  hour  of  danger?  My  heart  was 
filled  with  the  hope  that,  though  this  evangelical  mission  was  to 
be  connected  with  great  dangers  for  my  life,  it  was  to  be  a 


154  P'orty  Years  in  the  Church   of  Christ 

most  blessed  one.  All  the  echoes  of  the  plains  and  the 
mountains  of  Canada,  were  bringing  to  the  ears  of  my  soul 
the  dear  Saviour's  words,  "  Fear  not  ...  I  am  with  thee." 
The  last  thought  of  my  mind  and  the  last  words  of  my  lips, 
on  that  memorable  night,  were:  "The  Lord  is  my  shepherd; 
whom  shall  I  fear?  " 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  Gospel  Preached  to  Thousands  of  Roman  Catholics  fo  Montreal.    I  hear 
the  Priest  of  Napicrville  Denounce  me  from  his  Pulpit 

The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  With  Us;  The  God  of  Jacob  is  Our  Refuge.— Fs.  46:2 

My  heart  would  have  fainted  within  me,  the  morning  of 
the  second  of  February,  1859,  had  not  the  words  of  ihe 
prophet,  read  at  the  head  of  the  chapter,  come  to  strengthen 
me. 

Very  early  the  tempter  had  whispered  in  my  ears,  "  What  can 
you  do  here,  when  alone,  cursed  by  the  whole  clergy,  and  abso- 
lutely forsaken  by  the  Protestants.  For  have  you  seen  anyone 
of  their  ministers  or  people  here  last  night  to  shake  your  hand 
or  to  give  you  a  welcome?  No!  The  seventy = five  French 
Canadians  who  saved  your  life  are  freethinkers  who  do  not 
care  a  straw  for  the  Gospel  you  want  to  preach. 

"They  like  you  because  they  think  that  you  will  help  them 
to  demolish  the  power  of  the  priests  whom  they  hate  and  fear. 
But  they  are  night-birds,  you  will  not  see  them  during 
the  day.  They  are  ashamed  of  you.  They  do  not  want 
to  be  known  or  be  seen  among  your  friends. 

"The  ground  on  which  you  stand  here  is  cursed  by  the 
Bishops  and  priests  as  well  as  by  their  faithful  Roman  Catho- 
lic people  .  .  .  cursed  by  the  Church  of  Rome,  despised 
by  the  Protestants,  you  will  be  left  alone  in  these  large  par- 
lours as  if  infected  with  the  smallpox.  You  have  made  a  fool 
of  yourself  by  coming  back  to  Canada  after  your  apostasy 
from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  You  have  to  go  back  to 
your  colony  covered  with  shame  and  followed  by  the  exe- 
crations of  your  French  Canadian  fellow  countrymen.  Far 
from  converting  them  from  their  errors,  you  will  make  them 
stronger  in  their  faith  by  your  miserable  failure." 

155 


156  Forty  Years  In   the  Church   of  Christ 

There  was  so  much  common^sense  in  those  thoughts  that  I 
had  no  answer  to  give  thtun.  I  felt  for  a  time  overwhelmed 
by  their  weight.  Those  thoughts  were  to  my  mind  what  the 
dark  clouds  are  to  the  sun  in  a  stormy  day;  they  had  taken 
away  tlie  light.  I  felt  surrounded  l)y  such  a  desolating 
mental  darkness,  that  I  could  not  see  where  to  put  my  feet, 
or  on  what  side  to  turn  my  face.  Alone  in  that  large  parlour 
of  St.  Lawrence  Hall,  which  my  friends  had  engaged  for  me 
at  such  a  high  price,  it  seemed  that  my  position  was  so 
ridiculous  and  so  compromising,  that  the  people  would  speak 
of  sending  me  to  the  lunatic  asylum  before  the  end  of  the 
day. 

Whether  pacing  that  large  parlour,  alone,  or  sitting  in  one 
of  the  fine  chairs  or  sofas,  without  anyone  to  exchange  a 
word  of  frieniiship,  or  inquire  about  me,  I  was  asking  my- 
self, "What  shall  I  do  here?  Why  did  I  come  to  Montreal? 
Where  are  those  who  invited  me  to  come  and  speak  to  them 
of  the  Gospel?"  There  was  no  answer  to  my  inquiries — no 
echo  to  my  fainting  voice.  At  the  breakfast  table  I  had 
tried  to  exchange  a  few  words  with  the  two  guests  nearest  me, 
but  they  had  refused  to  answer;  the  servants  were  keeping  as 
far  as  they  could  from  me  as  if  I  had  had  the  plague. 

Ten  oV-loek  had  struck  and  I  was  still  alone!  Every  mo- 
ment of  that  solitude  seemed  to  me  as  long  as  an  endless 
night  looks  to  the  poor  sick  when  devoured  by  a  deadly  fever. 
My  heart  was  tilled  with  an  unspeakable  sadness.  My  poor 
soul  seemed  to  be  crushed  under  a  mountain  of  lead.  I  fell 
on  my  knees,  and  as  much  with  tears  as  with  my  lips  I  prayed 
to  the  only  One  from  whom  help,  strength  and  life  can  come. 
But  my  merciful  God  had  heard  my  humble  supplications 
even  before  I  had  uttered  them.  For  I  was  hardly  on  my 
knees  to  pray,  when  I  heard  three  knocks  at  the  door.  The 
waiter  was  come  to  say  that  several  persons  wanted  to  see  me. 
"  Let  them  come  in,"  I  answered.  And  it  was  my  unspeak- 
able joy  to  see  a  band  of  thirty  farmers  from  the  vicinity  of 
Montreal,  who  had  been  among  my  most  devoted  friends  when 


Preaching  in   Montreal  157 

I  was  preaching  temperance,  enter  to  give  me  a  hearty  shaking 
of  hands  with  the  assurance  that  the  whole  people  all  around 
Montreal  w^ere  pleased  to  hear  of  my  coming  again  to  spend  a 
few  weeks  in  Canada. 

I  had  not  finished  offering  them  the  chairs  and  the  sofas  to 
sit  on,  when  a  still  larger  number  followed,  and  so  on  till  the 
large  hall  was  so  filled  that  there  was  no  more  room  to  sit  or 
to  stand.     I  was  beside  myself  with  surprise  and  joy. 

"  My  dear  friends,"  I  said,  "  I  have  no  words  to  tell  you 
how  I  thank  God  for  the  privilege  He  gives  me  to  see  so 
many  of  my  dear  countrymen  here,  around  me,  to=day  .  .  . 
You  remember  how  happy  we  were  together,  some  years  ago, 
when  I  was  establishing  the  societies  of  temperance  all  over 
Canada.  I  see  by  the  expression  of  pleasure  on  your  friendly 
faces,  that  you  remember  those  happy  days.  I  was  then 
going  among  you  with  a  drop  of  the  waters  which  flow 
from  the  fountains  of  eternal  life — temperance.  You  tasted 
that  drop  and  you  found  it  sweet.  You  accepted  that  tem- 
perance as  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  God  had  ever  given 
to  your  families  and  to  our  dear  country.  But  it  was  in  this 
Bible  that  I  found  that  blessed  drop  of  water.  To=day  I 
come  to  offer  you  not  only  a  drop,  but  the  whole  fountain  of 
the  waters  of  life,  by  presenting  you  this  Bible,  as  the  most 
precious  gift  heaven  has  ever  given  to  earth.  Yes!  I  am 
coming  back  into  the  midst  of  my  dear  countrymen,  to  ask 
you  to  accept  this  Bible  as  the  most  precious  treasure  God 
has  ever  given  to  man.  You  will  accept  it,  I  hope,  as  the 
bread  of  your  souls,  as  the  light  to  your  steps,  as  the  key 
which  opens  the  gates  of  heaven  to  those  who  possess  it." 

For  about  one  hour  I  spoke  on  the  Bible  and  on  the 
necessity  to  accept,  read  and  study  it  in  every  French  Ca- 
nadian family,  as  the  only  way  to  make  our  dear  Canada 
happy,  great,  prosperous  and  free. 

Never  have  I  seen  anything  like  the  attention,  respect  and 
pleasure  of  my  auditors  as  in  that  happy  hour  when  one  of 
the  chief  policemen  in  the  city  came  and  interrupted  me   by 


158  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

sayinp,  "The  street  before  the  hotel  is  absolutely  crammed  with 
such  H  multitude  of  people,  who  waut  to  see  and  hear  you, 
that  the  circulation  is  completely  stopped.  Though  it  is 
against  the  law  to  let  such  a  crowd  fill  the  street,  we  did  not 
like  to  be  hard  on  them,  when  they  tell  us  that  their  only  de- 
sire is  to  see  and  hear  you  once  more,  if  it  were  only  for 
a  few  minutes.  Would  you  be  kind  enough  to  grant  the 
recjuest  they  have  asked  me  to  ask  you,  which  is  to  show 
yourself  at  the  window  and  address  them  for  a  few  minutes?" 

Asking  the  crowd  around  me  to  pardon  me  if  I  would  leave 
them  alone  for  a  few  minutes,  in  order  to  grant  the  petition 
of  their  friends,  who  were  in  the  street,  I  opened  the  window. 
To  my  unspeakable  surprise  I  saw  that  the  policeman  had  not 
exaggerated.  The  street  was  absolutely  crammed  by  such  a 
compact  multitude,  that  the  usual  circulation  was  impossible. 

The  noisy  expression  of  the  joy  of  that  crowd  when  I  put 
my  head  outside  of  the  window  was  such  that  I  became  al- 
most mute  by  the  sentiments  of  emotion  which  filled  my 
heart.  My  address  lasted  about  fifteen  minutes — on  the  text: 
"I  am  not  a.shamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ:  for  it  is  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  everyone  that  believeth." 

After  exhorting  them  to  read  and  follow  the  Gospel,  as  the 
surest  guide  to  an  eternal  life  of  happiness,  as  the  only  way  to 
become  a  happy,  great  and  free  people,  I  thanked  them  for 
the  joy  they  had  given  me  by  coming,  some  of  them  a  long 
distance,  to  hear  the  Christian  message  I  had  to  deliver  to 
them,  and  atklressed  a  short  prayer  to  our  merciful  heavenly 
Father  to  bless  them  all  with  their  families. 

Then  a  voice  from  the  crowd  said,  "Would  you  be  kind 
enough  to  give  me  one  of  those  Bibles  of  which  you  have 
said  such  .  beautiful  things?"  "  Yes,  my  dear  friend,"  I 
an.swered,  "come  this  afternoon  and  you  shall  have  as  many 
as  you  want." 

It  was  then  nearly  twelve  o'clock,  I  had  spoken  over  an 
hour  and  a  half,  a  part  of  the  time  in  the  open  air,  through 
the  window,  and  I  was  feeling  tlie  want  of  rest;  so,  after   a 


Preaching  in    Montreal  159 

short  prayer,  I  dismissed  the  crowd  which  was  filling  the 
parlour.  But  many  of  them  had  questions  to  put  to  me,  and 
they  asked  permission  to  come  again,  after  expressing  grati- 
tude for  what  they  had  heard. 

Where  can  I  find  words  to  tell  the  sentiments  of  admiration 
and  gratitude  I  felt  towards  my  God  when  alone,  thinking  of 
the  marvelous  things  that  I  had  seen  that  morning? 

Peter  could  not  have  been  more  astonished  and  grateful  at 
the  enormous  quantities  of  fishes  he  had  hauled  in  his  nets, 
at  the  voice  of  the  Saviour,  than  I  was  at  the  incredible  num- 
ber and  the  respectful  attention  of  the  people  who  had  come 
to  hear  the  messages  of  peace  I  had  delivered  to  them. 

What  had  just  occurred  that  morning  was  not  less  miracu- 
lous, to  me,  than  the  hauling  of  the  fishes,  to  Peter.  Both 
occurrences  were  true  miracles  of  the  mercies  of  God. 

Two  o'clock  had  not  struck  before  not  only  the  large  par- 
lour was  again  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  but  the  street 
before  the  St.  Lawrence  Hall  was  so  filled  with  the  people 
of  the  city  and  the  surrounding  country,  that  it  was  rendered 
impassable.  At  the  request  of  the  police,  I  began  by  address- 
ing from  the  window  my  friends  in  the  street.  After  I  had 
spoken  to  them  for  half  an  hour,  and  had  dismissed  them,  I 
gave  an  address  of  one  hour  to  those  in  the  parlour.  But  when 
I  had  closed  that  address,  a  new  crowd,  as  large,  which  had 
gathered  in  the  street  and  in  the  corridors  filled  again  the 
large  hall  and  it  was  nearly  five  when,  absolutely  exhausted,  I 
was  left  alone  to  breathe. 

I  soon,  however,  forgot  my  fatigue,  when  one  of  the  great- 
est Christians  of  Canada,  Sir  William  Dawson,  with  Mr. 
James  Court,  one  of  the  founders  of  Pointe  aux  Trembles 
College,  was  kind  enough  to  visit  me  and  invite  me  to  dinner 
with  him  at  his  residence,  McGill  University.  The  6lite  of 
the  Protestants  of  Montreal,  the  Dougalls,  the  McKays,  the 
Redpaths,  the  Lymans,  etc.,  were  there  to  give  me  the  first  as 
well  as  the  most  earnest  Christian  welcome  I  ever  received 
from  my  Protestant  brethren  of  Montreal. 


i6o  Forty   Years  in  the   Church  of  Christ 

But  I  could  reuinin  with  them  only  till  ('ij:,'ht  o'clock,  when 
my  French  Canadian  friends  came  with  sleighs  to  take  me  to 
the  Mechanics  Tlnll,  where  2,000  of  my  Roman  Catholic 
countrymen  wi're  waiting' f(jr  a  lecture  on  the  reasons  why  I 
had  left  the  Church  of  Rome.  In  order  to  keep  the  rowdy 
class  from  our  mectini^'s,  my  friends  had  determined  that  no 
one  should  enter  the  hall  without  paying  twenty=five  cents  to 
help  me  to  meet  my  expenses. 

But  will  not  the  readers  help  me  to  bless  the  Lord  with  the 
old  propliet,  that  the  works  of  His  mercies  are  above  all  the 
works  of  His  hands,  when  I  tell  them  that  the  story  of  this 
my  first  day  in  Montreal,  is  the  history  of  the  following  four 
days,  with  the  only  exception  that  the  next  day  I  took  dinner 
with  Mr.  Lyman  and  the  third  with  Mr.  Redpath?  By  the 
good  providence  of  God,  though  we  were  in  the  coldest  sea- 
son of  Canada,  those  four  days  spent  in  Montreal  were  so 
mild  and  the  sun  so  bright,  that  the  snow  was  melting  all  the 
time.  We  had  not  any  trouble  in  any  of  the  meetings  except 
that  on  the  Saturday  night,  when  a  few  men,  sent  by  the 
priests,  tried  to  make  some  noise,  but  they  were  stopped  by 
the  police  and  turned  out  of  the  hall. 

During  those  four  days  it  had  been  my  privilege  to  present 
the  Bread  of  Life  to  at  least  10,000  hungry  souls  and  to  dis- 
tribute 800  Bibles  and  Testaments.  Eternity  alone  will  re- 
veal the  good  done  during  those  four  days.  The  Church  of 
Rome  lost  her  power  over  many  who  began  to  see  the  light 
of  the  Gospel  and  to  love  it,  and  though  the  fruits  were  not 
ripe  to  be  gathered  immediately  into  the  granaries  of  the 
Father,  the  good  seed  was  not  lost.  Today  we  see  the  fields, 
everywhere,  covering  themselves  with  a  rich  crop  which  will 
soon  be  ripe. 

The  night  of  Saturday  had  been  chosen  by  my  friends  to 
drive  me  to  Napierville,  which  was  the  first  parish  we  wished 
to  attack. 

Though  1  was  very  tired,  I  traveled  all  night,  in  order  to  be 


Preaching  in   Montreal  i6i 

in  that  village  at  the  dawn  of  the  Sabbath.  It  had  been 
found  less  dangerous  to  select  that  time. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  Sunday  morning  when  I  could 
take  some  rest  in  a  dear  friend's  house.  The  sleep  from 
four  to  eleven  that  morning  was  sweet  indeed.  For  my  heart 
was  filled  with  such  a  joy!  And  the  expressions  of  gratitude 
of  the  thousands  I  had  preached  the  Gospel  to,  the  last  four 
days,  were  like  music  from  heaven  to  my  soul. 

When  the  hour  of  dismissing  the  Roman  Catholics  from 
their  church,  after  mass,  had  come,  I  dressed  myself  to  go  and 
meet  the  people  at  the  door  of  the  church.  My  host  tried  to 
dissuade  me  from  that  project,  by  showing  the  evident  danger 
I  was  running  to  be  insulted,  or  even  beaten  if  not  killed  by 
the  people.  "  It  is  to=day,"  he  said,  "  that  the  letter  of  the 
BishoiD  against  you  will  be  read  in  the  church  .  .  .  you 
will  be  shown  there  under  the  darkest  colours.  The  people 
will  be  furious  against  you  when  they  will  have  heard  their 
priest  calling  you  '  a  devouring  wolf.'  Do  not  go  into  the 
midst  of  such  a  people  when  there  will  not  be  any  one  to  pro- 
tect you."  I  answered  him,  "  You  are  mistaken  when  you 
think  that  I  am  alone.  I  do  not  come  here  in  my  own  name, 
or  for  my  private  interest  and  pleasure.  There  was  no  pleas- 
ure for  me  last  night  to  travel  through  the  three  feet  of  snow 
and  the  frost  of  one  of  your  coldest  nights  of  a  Canadian  win- 
ter; and  I  have  no  personal  interest,  surely,  to  go  into  the 
midst  of  that  poor  deluded  people.  But  I  am  the  ambassador 
of  Christ  and  I  am  sure  He  is  with  me  to  jDrotect  and  shield 
me  as  He  protected  Daniel  in  the  den  of  lions." 

And  I  went  to  the  door  of  that  large  church.  When  there, 
without  noise,  I  opened  it  a  little  to  see  if  the  service  was 
near  the  end.  The  priest  was  in  his  high  pulpit,  just  begin- 
ning to  read  the  long  and  terrible  letter  of  the  Bishop  against 
me.  I  was  represented  as,  the  ambassador  of  the  devil,  a  mon- 
ster, a  devouring  wolf  among  defenseless  lambs.  The  people 
were  forbidden  under  pain  of  excommunication  and  eternal 


1 62  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

damnation,  to  hear  nie,  shake  hands  with  me,  to  lodge  and 
receive  me  into  their  houses,  etc. 

Wlien  tlu'  priest  had  finished  reading  that  interesting  let- 
ter from  his  superior,  he  added  his  remarks,  and  said,  that 
the  eternal  fires  of  hell  would  be  the  abode  of  those  of  his 
people  who  would  listen  to  my  seducing  words,  or  talk  with 
me  or  even  shake  hands  with  me.  "  That  monster  has 
already  sent  to  hell  thousands  of  precious  souls,"  he  said, 
"and  he  is  coming  into  the  country  only  at  the  instigation  of 
the  devil  to  destroy  and  damn  you.  Though  I  hope  that  he 
will  not  come  to  soil  our  dear  parish  of  Napierville  with  his 
infectious  presence,  I  hope  that,  if  he  comes,  you  will  give 
him  such  a  reception  that  he  will  not  be  tempted  to  come 
again." 

After  these  words  he  finished  his  mass  by  blessing  the  peo- 
ple and  dismissing  them. 

I  had  closed  the  door  before  any  one  could  suspect  that  I 
was  there  hearing  every  word  of  their  priest  against  me,  and 
I  had  withdrawn  to  the  northern  corner  of  the  high  platform 
which  the  people  had  to  pass  from  the  church  down  the 
stairs. 

No  words  can  tell  the  surprise  of  that  people,  when,  coming 
out  of  the  building,  they  perceived  and  recognized  me  stand- 
ing there.  They  could  hardly  believe  their  eyes.  I  appeared 
to  them  as  a  phantom  (as  some  told  me  after),  others  thought 
that  they  were  dreaming.  As  I  had  many  times  visited  that 
people  when  a  priest  in  Canada,  passing  whole  weeks  in  their 
midst,  preaching,  hearing  their  confession,  and  giving  them 
the  pledge  of  temperance,  they  had  all  known  me  and  loved 
me  till  that  day,  as  if  I  had  been  their  own  fatlier. 

Their  eyes  had  hardly  met  mine,  when  they  had  all  for- 
gotten what  they  had  just  heard  from  their  priest.  Many, 
])ressing  my  hands  with  the  warmest  expressions  of  respect 
and  friendship,  were  saying:  "How  happy  we  are  to  see  you 
again  in  our  midst."  Many  others,  unable  to  approach  me  on 
account  of  the  dense  crowd,  which,  coming  as  an  irresistible 


Preaching  in   Montreal  163 

tide,  was  driving  them  down  the  stairs  in  spite  of  themselves, 
were  crying  to  each  other  with  unmistakable  expressions  of 
joy:  "Father  Chiniquy!  Father  Chiniquy  here!  Is  it  pos- 
sible?    How  glad  we  are  to  see  him  again!" 

Only  two  or  three  said,  "  Father  Chiniquy  has  no  business 
here.     Our  duty  is  to  drive  him  away." 

But  their  voices  were  drowned  by  hundreds  of  people  say- 
ing, "  If  you  do  not  like  to  hear  or  see  Father  Chiniquy,  shut 
your  eyes  and  run  away.  For  us  we  like  to  see  and  hear 
him  again." 

I  do  not  really  think  that  there  has  been  another  circum- 
stance so  strange  and  solemn  in  my  whole  life.  I  felt  more 
than  ever  in  that  strange  hour  that  "  the  Lord  was  my  keeper 
and  that  He  was  with  me." 

As  the  people  were  going  down  the  stairs,  carried  by  the 
irresistible  tide  of  the  multitude  coming  out  of  the  church,  they 
were  turning  their  faces  towards  me,  and  in  a  few  minutes  I 
stood  alone  on  the  high  platform,  having  at  my  feet  more 
than  one  thousand  of  those  dear,  honest  fellow  countrymen 
evidently  waiting  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  As  soon  as  the 
last  ones  had  taken  their  position  at  my  feet,  I  said:  "My 
dear  friends  and  countrymen,  you  have  just  heard  in  your 
church  what  your  priests  and  Bishops  say  against  me.  Now 
Would  you  not  like  to  know  what  I  have  to  say  in  my  de- 
fense? You  are  too  honest  and  Christian  to  condemn  a  man 
without  hearing  him,  even  if  he  is  accused  by  priests  and 
Bishops.  God  has  given  you  two  ears  that  you  may  hear 
both  sides  of  every  accusation.  I  do  not  come  here  to  say 
one  single  word  against  your  venerable  Bishops  and  pastor. 
I  respect  them.  I  only  ask  you  to  allow  me  to  say  a  few 
words  in  my  defense  to  explain  to  you  my  present  position. 
Will  you  grant  me  that  favour?"  The  whole  multitude  an- 
swered with  one  voice:  "Yes,  Father  Chiniquy,  speak — speak 
— we  are  glad  to  hear  you!" 

Then  I  said,  "  Many  of  you  are  fasting,  for  some  of  you 
have  received  the  communion  this  morning,  I  know  it.    Many 


164  Forty  Years   in   the  Church  of  Christ 

«ood  mothers  are  in  a  hurry  to  see  their  dear  little  ones  at 
home.  And  we  are  all  in  the  open  air  where  it  is  not  safe 
to  talk  much.  I  ask  you  all  to  grant  me  the  favour  of  coming 
to  hear  me  at  three  o'clock  this  afternoon  in  that  large  hall 
which  is  there  in  your  beautiful  village. 

"  When  I  came  here  I  was  sure  that  I  would  be  among  a 
noble  and  most  intelligent  people,  and  I  was  not  mistaken. 
The  way  you  have  received  me  here,  just  after  what  you  have 
heard,  is  the  assurance  that  your  minds  are  as  bright  as 
your  hearts  are  noble— not  condemning  me  before  hearing 
me. 

"Wherever  your  admirable  present  conduct  towards  me  will 
be  known  there  will  be  a  cry  of  admiration  for  your  high  and 
honest  intelligence,  and  you  will  be  blessed. 

"May  the  God  of  the  Gospel  bless  you  all,  and  may  He 
bless  our  dear  Canada  forever." 

The  whole  crowd  had  only  one  voice  to  say,  "  May  God 
bless  you  also,  dear  Father  Chiniquy!"  And  they  quietly 
dispersed. 


CHAPTER  XV 

>My  Missionary  Tour  Continued.     The  Dagger  of  the  Assassin  on  My 
Breast  at  Quebec 

The  first  Sabbath  of  February,  1859,  at  3  o'clock,  the  large 
hall  of  the  village  of  Napierville  was  filled  by  the  intelligent 
Roman  Catholics  of  that  interesting  town,  who  wanted  to 
know  why  I  had  left  the  Church  of  Rome.  Far  from  follow- 
ing the  advice  of  their  priest  by  giving  me  such  a  reception 
that  I  would  never  be  tempted  to  come  again,  they  over- 
whelmed me  with  all  the  marks  of  respect  and  friendship 
which  they  were  able  to  give.  It  was  the  same  thing  next 
morning  when  their  hall  was  again  crammed  by  an  audience 
to  hear  why  a  man  could  not  make  God  with  a  wafer. 

In  the  afternoon  the  doctor  of  the  village  was  sent  by  the 
priests  to  argue  against  me  and  to  defend  Auricular  Con- 
fession. He  tried  to  show  us  that  our  Saviour  had  established 
that  sacrament  of  penance  (Auricular  Confession)  as  the 
only  way  to  get  pardon  for  our  sins.  But  he  was  soon  at 
the  end  of  his  arguments,  and  I  asked  him  to  tell  us  how  long 
it  was  since  he  had  gone  to  confess  his  sins  to  the  priest. 
He  was  forced  to  answer,  "  Ten  years."  The  people  laughed 
at  him  to  their  hearts'  content.  This  threw  so  much  cold 
water  on  his  fiery  eloquence,  that  he  found  the  only  way  to 
save  his  lost  cause  was  by  making  use  of  a  dozen  rowdy 
Irishmen  to  drown  my  voice  every  time  I  tried  to  speak. 
Though  the  immense  majority  of  the  people  wanted  to  hear 
more,  we  had  to  stop  the  meeting.  But  much  of  the  good 
seed  had  fallen  on  that  welbprepared  soil.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Lafleur,  Revs.  Cyr  and  Roussy  had  faithfully  worked  before 
me  in  that  precious  part  of  the  Good  Master's  vineyard.  A 
good  number  of  its  families  had  already  given  up  the  errors  of 

165 


1 66  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

Rome  and  formed  a  very  interesting  congregation  of  Protes- 
tants. 

It  was  my  joy  in  the  evening  meeting,  in  my  host's  house, 
to  get.  from  ten  lieads  of  Roman  Catholic  families,  the  assur- 
ance that  they  had  also  taken  the  resolution  to  accept  the 
Gospel  as  their  only  guide  and  Jesus  Christ  for  their  only 
Saviour. 

The  next  day,  Tuesday,  it  was  my  unspeakable  joy  to  meet 
the  honest  and  intelligent  farmers  of  Lacadie,  in  their  inter- 
esting village.  For  more  than  an  hour  they  listened  to  the 
address  I  gave  them  on  the  Gospel  as  the  only  solid  founda- 
tion on  which  a  people  should  stand  to  become  strong,  happy 
and  free. 

A  notary  having  been  sent  by  the  priest  to  interrupt  me 
was  politely  taken  to  the  end  of  the  village  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  six  sturdy  farmers  and  requested  to  be  quiet,  there,  if 
he  would  not  fare  worse. 

I  was  not  surprised  at  the  friendly  reception  I  received 
from  the  people  of  Lacadie,  when  I  remembered  that  it  was  in 
the  midst  of  this  town  that  the  Grande  Ligne  Mission  was 
spreading  floods  of  Gospel  light  and  truth  for  the  last  ten 
years.  There,  again,  a  good  number  of  families  accepted  the 
Gospel. 

From  that  place  I  came  back  to  Montreal,  in  order  to 
take  the  train  for  Quebec,  where  I  was  expected  the  very  next 
day. 

In  the  Quebec  Gazette  of  February  11th,  1859,  was  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"  ARRIVAL   OF    MR.   CHINIQUY. 

"  This  gentleman  reached  Point  Levis  on  Wednesday  evening 
by  the  train,  and  was  waited  upon  by  a  large  number  of  the 
inhabitants  of  that  locality,  and  also  of  this  city,  who  went 
across  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  him.  He  remained  at 
Frazer's  hotel  for  that  night,  and  came  over  to  the  city  yes- 
terday forenoon,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Crown  Street, 
St.  Rock. 


The   Dagger  of  the  Assassin  on    My    Breast      167 

"We  are  informed  that  the  number  of  persons  who  have 
visited  him  since  his  arrival  cannot  have  been  less  than  four 
thou- and.  Twice  he  was  obliged  yesterday  to  speak  to  the 
multitude  from  his  window.  The  people  flocked  from  all  the 
neighbouring  parishes,  and  many  had  stayed  since  Monday 
to  see  him.  Some  on  hearing  of  his  arrival  at  Point  Levis, 
the  night  previous,  came  up  from  St.  Anne  Chateau  Richer 
and  the  Orleans  Island.  Not  an  offensive  word  was  used  by 
any  one,  but  all  evinced  the  extreme  pleasure  of  having 
amongst  them  once  more  one  for  whom  they  entertained  the 
most  sincere  affection. 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy  addressed  a  public  meeting  in  the  lecture 
hall,  St.  Anne's  Street,  this  afternoon,  but  the  hour  is  too  far 
advanced  to  admit  of  our  giving  particulars  to=day. 

"  We  would  just  say,  however,  that  the  building  was  crowded 
to  its  utmost  capacity,  principally  by  his  own  countrymen; 
and  that,  up  to  the  time  that  we  left,  the  greatest  decorum 
prevailed,  the  remarks  of  the  reverend  gentleman  being  fre- 
quently applauded  with  great  enthusiasm." 

Just  as  the  Quebec  Gazette  gives  it,  that  address  of 
Thursday  was  a  glorious  Gospel  success,  as  well  as  those  of 
Friday,  Saturday,  and  Sunday,  which  were  all  given  at  2 
P.  M.,  for  I  did  not  like  to  wait  till  the  night  to  address  the 
people.  There  were  not  sufficient  lights  in  the  streets  of 
Quebec  to  prevent  the  rough  element  from  playing  their 
mischief. 

The  Quebec  Gazette  tells  it,  in  the  intervals  of  the  ad- 
dresses the  large  room  I  occupied  was  filled  with  friends  and 
enquirers,  and  the  street  before  the  house  was  so  crammed 
with  the  multitudes  of  kind  friends  who  wanted  to  hear  the 
Gospel  message  I  had  to  give  them,  that  two  or  three  times 
a  day  I  had  to  address  them  in  the  open  air  from  the 
window. 

Of  course  the  priests  were  furious.  You  could  have  seen 
them  running  through  the  streets  to  stop  the  multitudes  that 
were  coming  from  every  side  to  see  and  hear  me,  and  asking 


i^)S  I'^orty  Years   In   the   Church  of  Christ 

them:  "  Where  are  you  going?"  The  answer  was,  invariably 
"  We  go  to  hear  Father  Chiniquy.'"  "  But  don't  you  know 
lliat  it  is  a  crime,  an  abominable  sin,  to  hear  him?  Don't 
you  knDW  tliat  you  are  excommunicated  if  you  speak  to  that 
alxMuinable  heretic?"  "Yes,  we  have  been  told  that,"  said 
the  crowds,  "but  have  you  not  told  us  hundreds  of  times 
that  you  have  the  power  to  forgive  all  our  sins?"  "Yes, 
yes,"  answered  the  priests,  "our  Saviour  has  told  us:  All 
the  sins  ye  forgive  on  earth  shall  be  forgiven  in  heaven." 
"Well,"  rejoined  the  people,  "after  hearing  dear  Father 
Chiniquy,  if  our  conscience  is  too  much  in  trouble,  we  will 
go  and  confess  to  you  again,  and  you  will  forgive  the  new  sin 
with  the  rest."  And  the  priests  had  to  go  to  another  corner 
with  that  sarcasm  in  their  ears. 

The  second  day  a  band  of  brave  men  who  were  all  among 
the  five  hundred  who  had  invited  me  to  come,  told  me  that 
the  priests  were  evidently  preparing  a  mob  to  kill  me  during 
the  night,  and  they  otfered  themselves  to  guard  the  house. 

I  answered  them  to  do  as  they  pleased  in  that  matter.  As 
it  was  at  their  invitation  that  I  was  in  Quebec,  it  was  their 
business  to  prevent  this  trouble  they  were  in  fear  of.  And  a 
guard  of  fifteen  well- armed,  intrepid  young  men  was  organ- 
ized to  watch,  during  the  dark  hours  of  the  night,  around  my 
lodging. 

The  Sabbath  address  was,  "Our  Salvation  Through  Christ." 
Though  the  most  terrible  fulminations  and  excommunica- 
tions had  been  launched  at  the  morning  service  against  all 
those  who  would  come  to  hear  me,  or  would  even  talk  a  single 
word  with  me,  the  crowd  was  so  great  that  we  had  to  open 
the  windows  of  the  large  hall,  so  that  the  multitudes  who 
stood  outside  from  the  want  of  room  could  hear. 

The  joy  that  filled  my  heart  was  such  that,  though  I  was 
exhausted,  when  the  night  came  I  did  not  feel  the  fatigue. 
The  sight  of  those  multitudes  who  were  hungry  and  thirsty 
after  the  bread  of  Life,  and  to  whom  I  was  permitted  to 
give  that  bread  and  that  water,  was  such  a  marvelous  thing 


The  Dagger  of  the  Assassin  on   My   Breast      169 

to  me,   that  very   often   I  could  not  speak  to  them  except 
with  my  tears  of  joy. 

But  at  10  p.  M.  two  very  respectable  friends  came  to  tell 
me:  "  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,  you  will  surely  be  killed  this 
night  if  you  do  not  leave  the  city.  We  have  just  come  from 
a  meeting  of  the  most  desperate  rowdies  of  the  city  which 
has  been  addressed  by  two  of  our  priests.  They  have  so  in- 
flamed th6ir  brutal  passions,  that  more  than  fifty  have  sworn 
to  set  fire  to  your  house  this  night,  and  to  kill  you  when  you 
try  to  escape;  please  leave  the  city.  We  have  a  good  sleigh 
in  readiness  to  take  you  to  a  safe  place  eight  or  ten  miles 
away."  I  answered  them:  "  I  thank  you  for  your  kindness, 
but  I  cannot  follow  your  advice.  When  I  left  the  Church  of 
Rome,  as  well  as  when  I  came  to  Quebec  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  I  knew  the  cost. 

"  I  did  not  come  here  to  run  away.  If  it  is  the  will  of 
God  that  I  should  shed  my  blood  this  night  for  the  cause  of 
His  Gospel,  I  shall  have  the  whole  eternity  to  bless  Him  for 
that  favour."  "  Then,"  said  my  friends,  "  you  cannot  pre 
vent  us  from  putting  a  double  guard  this  night  to  protect 
you."  "  Do  as  you  please  in  that  matter,"  I  answered.  And 
they  left  me  alone. 

The  few  hours  before  a  man  expects  to  die,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, are  too  solemn  to  allow  him  to  sleep.  The 
shores  of  eternity  are  so  near,  look  so  bright  and  grand,  that 
one  can  hold  his  breath  at  their  aspect.  At  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  one  of  my  night  guards  came  to  me 
and  said:  "As  the  night  is  much  advanced,  and  the  first 
rays  of  the  day  are  very  near,  we  think  that  the  danger  of  an 
attack  from  the  mob  is  over.  If  you  have  no  objection  we 
will  go  home  and  take  a  few  hours  of  rest,  for  we  are  all 
working  men,  and  we  must  be  at  our  different  posts  by  seven 
this  "morning." 

"All  right,  my  dear  friends,  go  and  rest  a  few  hours;  may 
the  dear  Saviour  bless  you  for  your  kindness  towards  me,"  I 
answered.     And  they  left. 


lyo  Forty  Years   in   the   Church  of  Christ 

I  then  went  to  the  ^ood  waiters,  who  were  also  watching, 
to  ask  them  to  give  me  a  cup  of  cofFee.  As  I  had  not  shut 
my  eyes,  I  felt  the  want  of  some  food  to  keep  up  my 
strength. 

I  was  just  going  to  take  that  cup  of  coffee  when  we  heard 
a  terrible  noise  at  the  door.  That  door  was  evidently  broken 
down,  and  a  multitade  of  men  were  running  upstairs  to  the 
parlour. 

They  were  the  very  ones  who  had  prepared  at  the  evening 
meeting  of  the  priests,  to  set  fire  to  the  house,  and  to  kill  me 
when  I  would  try  to  run  away.  Every  one  had  a  mask  on 
his  face.  Too  cowardly  to  approach  the  house  when  it 
was  guarded  by  my  thirty  young  friends,  they  had  con- 
cealed themselves  in  a  building  at  a  short  distance,  wait- 
ing for  the  moment  that  my  guardians  would  leave,  at  the 
dawn  of  day.  I  asked  them:  "What  do  you  want  here  at 
such  an  hour  of  the  night?"  The  leader,  who  had  a  long 
butcher^knife  in  his  hand,  answered:  "Miserable  apostate! 
we  come  to  put  an  end  to  your  infamous  life,  if  you  do  not 
swear  that  you  will  never  preach  your  d — d  Bible  any  more." 
And  seizing  my  right  arm  with  his  left  one,  he  planted  his 
knife  on  my  breast.  The  half  of  his  companions,  armed  with 
sticks  and  daggers,  made  a  circle  around  me,  and  repeated 
what  their  chief  had  said:  "D — d  apostate!  if  you  don't  swear 
that  you  will  never  preach  your  d — d  Bible  again,  you  are  a 
dead  man."  During  that  time  the  rest  of  the  band  filling  the 
room  with  terrible  imprecations,  were  breaking  the  chairs 
and  threatening  to  kill  the  good  man,  who,  with  his  wife,  con- 
sented to  lodge  me  during  my  stay  in  Quebec. 

I  told  them:  "  Let  those  people  alone — if  it  is  a  crime  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  here,  I  am  the  only  guilty  one — 
kill  me — death  has  no  terror  for  me,  but  do  not  molest  those 
people." 

In  that  moment  I  felt  the  dagger  so  hardly  pressed  on  my 
breast  that  I  thought  at  every  moment  it  would  go  through 


The   Dagger  of  the  Assassin  on    My   Breast      171 

and  through.  Raising  my  supplicating  hands  towards 
heaven,  I  said:  "Dear  Saviour!  For  my  sake  Thou  hast 
shed  Thy  blood  on  the  cross,  if  it  is  Thy  will  I  should  mine 
for  Thy  sake,  may  Thy  will  be  done:  but  come  and  receive 
my  soul  into  Thy  hands." 

These  words  were  hardly  said  when  the  would-be  murderer, 
with  a  most  awful  imprecation,  said:  "Infamous  apostate! 
We  do  not  come  to  hear  your  heretical  prayers,  we  come  to 
put  an  end  to  your  infamous  life,  if  you  do  not  swear  that 
you  will  never  preach  your  Bible."  He  then  pressed  his 
knife  so  hard  that  I  felt  blood  running  on  my  breast.  Expect- 
ing every  moment  to  fall  a  corpse,  I  again  raised  my  hands 
towards  heaven,  and  said:  "My  God!  In  a  moment  I  will 
be  in  Thy  presence  and  I  bless  Thee  for  it.  But  as  they  want 
an  oath  before  I  die,  they  shall  have  it;  I  swear  that,  as  long  as 
my  tongue  can  speak,  I  will  preach  Thy  Holy  Word  as  I  find 
it  in  the  Holy  Bible."  And  then  opening  my  vest  with  both 
hands,  I  said,  "  Now,  strike  the  last  blow."  But  my  dear 
Saviour  was  there  to  protect  His  poor,  helpless  soldier. 

The  would  be  murderer  began  to  shake  from  head  to  foot. 
The  dagger  fell  from  his  hands  on  the  floor,  and  with  a 
trembling  voice  he  said,  "  Well,  Father  Chiniquy,  if  you 
promise  to  go  away  we  will  not  kill  you." 

He  evidently  meant  that  I  would  promise  to  go  away  from 
the  city.  But  I  thought  it  was  not  very  wrong  to  deceive 
him,  when  saying  the  truth.  I  answered,  "  Yes,  I  will  go 
away,"  secretly  meaning,  "I  will  go  away  from  your  bad  com- 
pany."    And  he  left  me  alone. 

The  snow  had  fallen  more  than  two  feet  deep  in  the  street 
during  the  night,  and  I  had  a  pretty  long  distance  to  walk  to 
reach  the  house  to  which  I  wanted  to  go.  I  felt  my  bodily 
strength  pretty  much  exhausted  by  the  trials  of  that  night,  and 
I  thought  it  prudent,  before  leaving,  to  take  my  cup  of  cofiPee, 
which  was  there  on  the  table.  Besides  that,  I  wanted  to  gain 
some  time,  in  the  hope  that  some  of  my   friends  or   night- 


172  Forty   Years   in   the   Church   of  Christ 

guards  would  know  my  iwsition  and  come  to  ray  help,  for 
I  had  seen  one  of  the  servants  running  away,  probably  to 
give  the  alarm. 

I  told  the  mob,  which  was  then  silent,  though  their  bloody 
eyes  were  watching  me  closely:  "  I  have  to  walk  quite  a  long 
distance  in  the  snow  to  my  knees;  you  will  not  find  fault 
with  me  I  hope,  if  I  take  a  cup  of  cofiFee,  with  a  mouthful 
of  bread."  And  I  sat  at  the  table.  But  I  had  not  drunk 
liiilf  of  the  cup  when  a  furious  voice,  which  I  had  not  yet 
heard,  cried  out:  "  Do  you  not  see  that  he  is  deceiving  us? 
He  takes  too  much  time.  And  he  means  to  remain  here." 
Saying  that  he  upset  the  table,  broke  the  cup  and  plates, 
and  with  a  fearful  blasphemy  said,  "Infamous  apostate! 
Go  away  at  once!  No  delay!  Go  Quick!"  And  he  nearly 
brought  me  down  with  his  fist. 

I  felt  I  had  to  go.  Putting  on  my  overcoat  and  my  cap  I 
took  my  bag  and  walked  to  the  door.  It  was  still  very  dark 
and,  as  I  said  before,  two  feet  of  snow  had  fallen  in  the  streets, 
iluring  that  night.  I  was  not  without  anxiety  how  I  could 
walk  the  long  distance  which  was  before  me.  But,  by  the 
good  providence  of  God,  a  carter  was  just  passing  before  the 
door  with  his  sleigh.  I  asked  him,  "  Can  you  take  me  to  the 
pro  mayor,  Mr.  Hall?"  "Yes,  sir,"  he  answered.  And 
soon  I  was  safe  under  the  roof  of  that  noble  Scotch  Protes- 
tant. 

For,  by  the  marvelous  mercy  of  God,  the  mayor,  Langevin, 
a  most  fanatical  Roman  Catholic,  was  absent  for  the  few  days 
I  was  in  Quebec. 

I  showed  my  bleeding  breast  to  Mr.  Hall,  and  I  told  him : 
"  Sir,  I  am  just  escaping  from  the  hands  of  a  furious  Roman- 
ist mob  who  have  sworn  to  kill  me  if  I  continue  to  preach  in 
Quebec.  As  I  promised  yesterday  to  give,  to-day,  my  last 
address  on  the  Bible  and  the  right  which  every  man  has  to 
read  it,  I  will  fulfil  my  promise  even  if  I  have  to  die  for  it. 
I  come  to  put  myself  under  the  protection  of  the  British  flag, 
for  the  enjoyment  of  my  rights  and  liberty." 


The   Dagger  of  the  Assassin  on   My   Breast      173 

"  If  you  can  swear  upon  that,"  said  Mr.  Hall,  "I  will  pro- 
tect you.  But  I  have  a  favour  to  ask  of  you.  Please  do  not 
speak  of  the  wound  that  you  have  on  your  breast,  nor  of  the 
blood  you  have  lost.  You  do  not  know  the  terrible  effect  that 
sight  has  upon  me.  Blood  calls  for  blood.  If  it  were  known 
that  you  had  received  such  a  wound  in  Quebec,  and  that  you 
have  had  to  shed  your  blood  from  the  hands  of  the  priests,  it 
might  have  the  most  terrible  results.  It  might  be  difficult,  if 
not  impossible,  to  calm  the  rage  of  our  Protestant  soldiers 
and  the  other  Protestants  whom  I  must  call  to  protect  you. 
For  I  must  put  the  city  under  martial  law  and  gather  all  the 
powers  I  can  lay  my  hands  on,  if  I  want  to  save  your  life, 
and  perhaps  my  own,  to-day,  against  the  mighty  and  bloody 
power  of  Rome." 

Half  an  hour  later  the  city  of  Quebec  was  proclaimed 
under  martial  law,  and  more  than  1,000  English  soldiers  with 
their  bayonets  were  around  me  to  protect  my  life.  It  was 
between  the  two  ranks  of  those  soldiers  of  British  liberty 
and  fair  play,  that  the  mayor  drove  me,  at  noon,  in  his  own 
sleigh,  to  give  the  last  lecture  I  had  promised  on  the  Bible. 

When  on  my  way  to  the  hall  between  the  two  ranks  of 
bayonets  glittering  in  the  sun,  it  was  quite  amusing  to  see 
the  priests  of  Rome,  half  dead  with  terror,  running  through 
the  crowds  of  their  poor  slaves  who  were  massed  all  along 
the  streets,  saying:  *'  Do  not  make  any  demonstration,  do 
not  make  any  noise,  do  not  move  a  finger  against  Father 
Chiniquy.  The  city  is  under  martial  law!  The  soldiers  will 
fire  at  you  and  slaughter  you  at  the  least  appearance  of 
trouble.     For  God's  sake,  be  still!" 

The  large  hall  could  not  contain  half  of  the  people  who 
wanted  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say  about  the  Holy  Bible  and 
the  right  of  every  one  to  have  and  read  it.  Several  thou- 
sands who  could  have  no  place  in  the  hall,  were  standing 
around  and  listening  with  breathless  attention,  through  the 
windows  which  were  opened.  The  day  was  splendidly  bright 
and  mild  as  a  summer  day. 


174  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

I  had  large  boxes  coiitaiiiiiig  six  hundred  New  Testaments 
wliich  I  distributed,  to  the  last  one,  to  my  dear  Roman 
Catholic  countrymen,  after  the  meeting. 

Thanks  to  God,  the  good  seed  sown  in  those  days  has  not 
all  been  lost,  and  the  blood  shed  has  not  been  shed  in  vain. 
The  modest  evangelical  work  which  our  Protestant  societies 
had  begun  there,  some  time  before,  under  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Tetreau  and  Normandeau,  two  converted  priests,  has  taken  a 
new  and  rapid  extension. 

Not  far  from  that  very  spot  where  I  was  so  cruelly  wounded, 
a  fine  stone  French  Protestant  church,  for  the  Canadian  con- 
verts, has  been  built.  That  church  would  be  much  too  small 
to  day,  if  our  dear  French  Canadian  converts  from  Rome 
could  have  remained  in  their  own  country.  But,  alas!  many 
have  been  forced  to  take  the  sad  way  of  exile.  The  cruel  and 
unmanly  persecutions  they  are  subject  to  from  the  priests  of 
the  Pope  have  made  it  impossible  for  many  to  remain  in 
their  own  country.  Thousands  of  them  are  now  eating  the 
bitter  bread  of  exile  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

How  Roman  Catholics  Understand  Liberty  of  Conscience.    My  Letter  to 
the  Bishops  of  Quebec  and  the  Priests  of  Canada 

"I  saw  a  woman  sit  upon  a  scarlet  coloured  beast  .  .  .  and 
decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  .  .  .  having  a  golden 
cup  in  her  hand  full  of  abominations  and  filthiness  of  her 
fornication:  and  upon  her  forehead  was  a  name  written, 
Mystery,  Babylon  the  great,  the  mother  of  harlots  and  abomi- 
nations of  the  earth. 

"I  saw  the  woman  drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints." 
(Rev.  17:3-6.) 

If  it  were  possible  to  awaken  the  Protestants  of  Canada 
from  their  deplorable  and  mysterious  slumber,  and  to  make 
them  understand  the  anti-Christian  and  anti=social  principles 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  events  of  the  fourteenth  day  of 
February,  1859,  would  have  done  it. 

Of  all  the  daily  and  weekly  papers  edited  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Canada,  not  a  single  word  was  written  to  blame 
the  rioters  for  having  attacked  violently  and  driven  me  from 
my  house.  They  all  said  that  I  had  no  right  to  preach  doc- 
trines contrary  to  the  doctrines  of  Rome  in  Quebec,  because 
the  majority  were  Roman  Catholics. 

Though  unable  to  find  a  single  word  of  abuse  fallen  from 
my  lips,  they,  however,  said  that  they  had  the  right,  it  was 
their  duty,  to  kill  me  if  I  refused  to  go  away. 

They  all  declared  that  Mayor  Hall  was  wrong  to  come  to 
my  help  and  protect  me.  They  all  proclaimed  that  he  had  no 
right  to  employ  the  civil  and  military  fofees  to  save  my  life 
and  protect  me.  His  duty  was  to  let  the  rioters  come,  break 
everything  in  the  house  where  I  was  staying,  pull  it  down,  if 
I  refused  to  obey  them. 

175 


176  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

Here  are  the  very  words  of  Mr.  Audet,  one  of  the  council- 
lors of  the  city  of  Quel)ec,  reproduced  and  apjiroved  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  press  of  Canada  on  this  subject: 

"  I  acknowledge  Mr.  Chiniquy's  liberty  of  speech  when 
coming  to  speak  against  our  holy  religion,  as  I  acknowledge 
the  liberty  of  a  thief  to  steal,  and  the  liberty  of  an  assassin 
to  kill. 

"  When  I  deny  the  right  of  the  robber  to  rob,  and  of  the 
assassin  to  assassinate,  of  the  sacrilegious  to  commit  sacrilege, 
I  also  deny  Mr.  Chiniquy  the  right  of  coming  here  to  insult 
and  outrage  us." 

Let  us  now  come  to  the  affair  of  Monday  last. 

"  That  day  Mr.  Chiniquy  was  to  lecture  in  the  hall  of  St. 
Anne  St.,  and  you,  Mr.  Pro^ Mayor,  you  had  received  deposi- 
tion affirming  that  there  were  to  be  disturbances  at  that  lec- 
ture. Accordingly,  by  your  order,  all  the  civil  forces  were 
under  arms!  You  knew  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  was  the  cause  of 
all  those  troubles,  and  notwithstanding  that,  you,  the  first 
magistrate  of  the  city,  went  yourself  in  search  of  Mr.  Chini- 
(juy  to  deliver  that  lecture  to  you!  Suppose,  Mr.  Pro-Mayor, 
that  there  had  been  a  riot  and  a  bloodshed,  would  you  not 
havelaeen  the  cause  of  it?  The  Canadians  have  always  re- 
spected every  religious  faith;  but  be  assured  that  we  will 
exact  for  ourselves  the  respect  we  bear  towards  others. 

"  We  demand  protection,  and  let  it  be  distinctly  understood 
that  if  it  be  refused  to  the  45,000  Roman  Catholics  of  this 
city,  they  will  know  how  to  protect  themselves;  and  then  evil 
be  to  those  who  dare  attack  them.  This  will  interfere  some- 
what with  the  Bible  societies,  but  I  warn  them  to  seek  some 
other  field  for  the  exercise  of  their  zeal. 

"Have  they  not,  for  instance,  India,  China,  and  Japan 
where  they  can  go  and  throw  their  Bibles?" 

These  are  some  of  the  reflections  of  the  "  Quebec  Mercury ' 
concerning  the  above  harangue  of  Mr.  Audet. 

"  Mr,  Audet  has  not  only  publicly  uttered,  but  deliberately 
put  on  record,  a  declaration  of  war  against  the  British  popu- 


Liberty  of  Conscience  177 

lation  of  this  Province.  His  appeal  to  the  45,000  Koman 
Catholics  of  Quebec  is  a  cry  for  blood.  And  in  what  a  cause? 
This  agent  of  the  priesthood  has  deliberately  propounded  the 
principles  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  as  applicable  to  those 
who  boast  themselves  (however  erroneously)  the  free  Protes- 
tant subjects  of  a  Protestant  sovereign. 

"  Mr.  Audet  boldly  announces  that  opinion  is  a  crime, — 
and  that  the  magistrates  are  bound  to  restrain  it. 

"  A  man,  he  says,  has  the  same  liberty  to  lecture  against 
Komanism,  as  to  be  a  robber! 

"  The  meaning  is  clear.  He  may  be  as  liable  to  punishment 
in  the  one  case  as  the  other.  The  language  of  '  The  Uni^ 
vers,'  the  Ultramontane  organ  in  France,  is  nearly  identical 
with  that  of  Mr.  Audet:  it  distinguishes  liberty  from  right. 
He  declares  a  man  has  no  more  right  to  be  a  Protestant  than 
to  commit  a  murder  or  a  theft! 

"  Liberty  of  sj)eech  is  to  be  forbidden,  lest  those  it  offends 
should  deliberately  break  the  law,  and  direful  misfortunes 
for  the  whole  world  which  must  be  subjected  to  the  conse- 
quences of  doing  so! 

"  Mr.  Audet  concludes  his  speech  by  calling  on  his  Roman 
Catholic  hearers  to  make  a  new  St.  Bartholomew's  day  of 
their  Protestant  neighbours !  And  he  finishes  by  a  threat  to 
the  Bible  societies,  to  which  the  treatment  formerly  received 
by  Mr.  Papin,  gives  the  utmost  significance." 

When  I  went  back  to  Montreal,  I  thought  it  was  my  duty 
to  address  a  letter  to  the  Bishops  and  priests  of  Canada.  In 
the  first  part  of  that  letter  I  gave  a  faithful  history  of  the 
riot,  which  I  will  not  repeat  here.  I  will  give  only  the  sec- 
ond part. 

"  To  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishops  and  Priests  of  Canada: 

"  You  have  thus  an  abridged  but  faithful  history  of  your 
own  work  of  the  fourteenth  of  February.  But  before  leaving 
Canada,  I  owe  it  to  my  fellow  countrymen,  I  owe  it  to  the 
cause  of  truth,  to  address  you  a  few  words  more. 

"  Within  three  years,  look  at  the  four  riots  you  have  caused 


lyS  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

to  rid  yourselves  of  those  you  call  'Protestants,  apostates, 
and  enemies  of  your  holy  church.' 

"Iacapal)le  of  meeting  your  opponents  on  the  ground  of 
argument,  worthy  descendants  and  supporters  of  the  Holy 
Inipiisition,  you  have  recourse  to  violence,  to  oppose  and 
destroy  the  truth  which  makes  you  afraid;  you  have  recourse 
to  bloody  riots  to  prop  up  your  tottering  power.  It  is  well; 
continue;  accustom  the  people  to  use  the  stick  and  the  club 
for  an  argument.  Discipline  your  adepts  to  shed  the  blood 
of  those  that  you  call  the  enemies  of  the  holy  Roman  Church; 
applaud  the  murderers  who  knock  down  their  victims,  with 
cries  of  rage,  and  the  robbers  who  violate  the  most  sacred 
right  of  nations,  that  of  the  domestic  hearth;  you  will  then 
prove  to  all  that  you  are  the  worthy  successors  of  those  who 
slaughtered  thousands  of  their  brethren  on  the  night  of  St. 
Bartholomew;  you  will  open  the  eyes  of  the  blindest  to  the 
spirit  and  tendencies  of  the  Romish  Church;  you  will  demon- 
strate to  the  most  incredulous  that  you  have  completely  re- 
nounced the  Gospel  which  tells  you  not  to  do  to  others  what 
you  would  not  like  done  to  yourselves;  you  will  show  to 
the  most  ardent  of  your  zealots  that  you  are  the  enemies  of 
Him  who  said  to  Peter:  'Put  up  the  sword  in  its  sheath,  for 
those  who  make  use  of  the  sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword.' 

"You  do  not  wish  that  those  who  differ  from  you  in  re- 
ligion shall  have  the  right  to  speak;  you  excite  against  them 
the  rage  of  riotous  men;  you  cry  for  their  blood.  But  really 
do  you  think  that  the  people  will  leave  you  long  in  the  pos- 
session of  this  power? 

"  Do  you  not  see  that  the  shoulders  of  this  poor  people  are 
bruised  and  bleeding  under  the  heavy  and  odious  yoke  you 
lay  upon  them?  Do  you  not  hear  the  low  and  threatening 
murmurs  that  come  from  the  breasts  of  this  people,  when  they 
see  you  drag  from  them  their  last  farthings,  for  the  souls  of 
your  insatiable  purgatory?  Yes,  all  these  confraternities,  all 
these  medals,  these  indulgences  of  five,  twenty,  forty  sous,  but 
for  which  you  extract  the  money  from  the  poor  as  well  as  the 


Liberty  of  Conscience  179 

rich,  will  open  the  eyes  of  the  people.  Already  many  are 
persuaded  that  if  you  really  did  believe  in  the  fires  of  purga- 
tory, you  would  not  wait  until  you  got  twenty = five  cents  to 
take  a  poor  suffering  soul  out  of  that  purgatory,  no  more  than 
you  would  demand  twenty=^five  cents  to  save  a  person  drowning 
before  your  eyes.  There  are  even  those  that  blush  for  you, 
when  they  hear  you  say,  in  speaking  of  such  a  person, 
deceased, '  He  is  probably  in  purgatory,  give  me  $10.00  $20.00, 
and  I  shall  immediately  try  to  get  him  out.' 

"This  shameful  traffic  begins  to  be  understood  and  to  be 
despised.  The  people  see  that  the  enormous  sums  they  give 
you  for  the  souls  in  purgatory  remain  at  the  bottom  of  your 
purses  and  that  the  good  souls  do  not  get  a  fraction.  Con- 
tinue your  infamous  commerce  in  prayers,  indulgences  and 
medals;  build  for  yourselves  with  those  funds,  sumptuous  pal- 
aces; rear  up  gigantic  cathedrals;  robe  yourselves  in  purple 
and  the  finest  garments;  load  your  tables  with  delicate  viands; 
knock  down  those  who  disturb  your  repose;  and  continue  to 
elect  in  every  country  the  enemies  of  the  people.  But  mark 
well  what  I  tell  you:  the  people  will  soon  awake  from  the 
profound  slumber  in  which  you  have  kept  them.  In  spite  of 
you,  their  eyes  will  be  opened  to  the  light  which  is  coming 
in  upon  them  on  every  side. 

"  But  this  waking  up  will  be  terrible,  like  that  of  the  lion. 
This  people  who  till  the  ground,  with  the  sweat  of  their  brow, 
have  not  a  cent  left;  the  poor  people  are  nearly  naked,  and 
their  children  are  trembling  with  cold.  Many  are  obliged  to 
leave  their  own  country  to  go  and  eat  the  bitter  bread  of  exile, 
and  to  be  the  servants  of  other  people.  But  they  will  soon 
awaken,  and  they  will  say,  '  I  have  now  nothing  left,  I  am 
naked,  hungry,  without  shelter!  Where  are  the  goods  that 
God  gave  me?  '  And  a  voice  from  heaven  shall  say  to  them, 
'Behold  them,  there,  in  those  magnificent  palaces;  there  is 
the  price  of  your  hard  labours,  and  the  bread  of  your  children. 
Under  the  cloke  of  religion,  your  priests  have  ruined  you  and 
made  you  their  slaves.     They  have  snatched  away  a  thing 


i8o  Forty   Years   in   the   Church  of  Christ 

more  precious  than  eartlily  treasure— the  Word  of  God — the 
Divine  Gospel  that  Christ  has  sent  you  to  succour  you  in  your 
wretchedness.' 

"And  then  a  disturbance  will  take  place,  but  a  terrible  dis- 
turbance, and  a  frif>:htful  disturbance,  such  as  is  rarely 
seen  on  tlie  surface  of  the  globe.  What  you  have  done  to 
others  will  be  done  to  yourselves  and  in  the  same  measure. 
In  those  days  of  agitation,  of  vengeance  and  retribution,  the 
Canadian  people,  like  the  French  people  in  1792,  will  settle 
their  accounts  with  you,  and  will  make  you  pay  dearly  for 
your  frauds,  your  impostures,  your  intolerance,  and  your 
tyranny.  You  will  be  dragged  with  violence  from  your  pal- 
aces; and  your  mournful  cries  will  be  but  the  echo  of  the 
cries  and  desolation  of  your  victims.  Your  blood  will  be 
mingled  with  the  blood  you  have  shed.  Your  reign,  the 
reign  of  man,  will  be  at  an  end,  and  the  reign  of  Christ,  the 
reign  of  God's  Word,  shall  have  begun." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A  French  Officer  Saves  My  Life  at  Beloeil.    Grande   Ligne  and  Longuevil 
Visited.     Rev.  Theodore  Lafleor 

To  throttle  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  means  not  only  to 
dare  her  fury  but  to  bring  down  her  sceptre  into  the  dust  in 
the  greatest  citadels  of  her  power,  Quebec  and  Montreal, 
could  not  be  the  work  of  Chiniquy,  it  must  be  the  Lord's 
work. 

The  mighty  hand  of  my  God  was  so  visible  in  the  com- 
plete humiliation  of  the  haughty  tryants  under  the  feet  of 
whom  the  people  of  Quebec  and  Montreal  were  crushed  for 
almost  three  centuries,  that  there  was  no  possibility  for  me  to 
be  tempted  by  the  the  demon  of  human  pride.  I  had  only  to 
be  humiliated  and  amazed  when  considering  that  such  a  work 
had  been  wrought  through  such  a  weak  instrumentality. 

Protestants  as  well  as  Romanists  were  amazed  that  those  so 
dreaded  weapons — excommunication,  interdicts,  etc.,  ful- 
minated from  all  the  pulpits,  which,  till  then,  had  kept  the 
French  Canadian  people  at  the  feet  of  their  haughty  tyrants — 
had  suddenly  been  turned  into  ridiculous  child's  play,  and  had 
become  powerless  and  been  thrown  by  the  people  into  the 
muddy  ditches,  along  the  public  roads. 

It  was  the  first  time,  on  the  continent  of  America,  that  the 
Roman  tiger  had  been  so  well  shut  up  in  his  own  den,  and 
that  the  monstrous  snake  of  Romanism  had  been  so  roughly 
handled  without  being  able  to  bite  the  hand  that  was  strik- 
ing it.  ^ 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  humiliations  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  clergy,  when  they  heard  that  I  was  determined  to 
spend  another  month  in  Montreal  and  vicinity  in  exposing 
their  frauds,  their  idolatries  and  their  corruptions. 

181 


1 82  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

Superhuman  .tforts  were  made  by  Bishop  Bourget  to  bribe 
me,  but  he  lost  his  time.  He  felt  more  aud  more  every  day 
that  I  was  not  only  terribly  in  earnest,  but  absolutely  proof 
against  his  threats,  his  perfidious  flatteries,  and  his  impotent 
rage. 

By  his  orders,  the  priests  invented  and  published  the  most 
horrible  calumnies  against  my  character.  But  in  the  good 
providence  of  God,  these  calumnies  were  invariably  destroy- 
ing themselves  by  their  own  absurdity  and  want  of  every  one 
of  the  elements  on  which  their  fabrication  could  stand. 

The  gold  medal  they  had  put  on  my  breast,  the  title  of 
"  Apostle  of  Temperance  of  Canada,"  they  had  so  solemnly 
given  me,  the  sacred  silver  vases  they  had  presented  me  with 
the  very  day  I  had  left  Canada  for  the  United  States,  the 
echoes  of  my  voice  which  were  still  vibrating  within  all  the 
walls  of  their  cathedrals,  the  tears  I  had  dried,  the  hearts  I 
had  consoled,  the  marvelous  reformations  I  had  wrought  all 
over  our  country,  the  giant  enemy  of  Canada,  intemperance, 
which,  by  the  help  of  God,  I  had  conquered,  were  facts 
which,  not  I,  but  my  God,  was  bringing  to  the  memory  of  my 
countrymen,  as  an  infallible  antidote  against  the  poisoned 
arrows  thrown  at  me  by  the  Bishop  and  priests,  which 
poisoned  arrows  were  wounding  only  those  who  were  throw- 
ing  them. 

The  whole  week  I  spent  in  Montreal,  after  my  return  from 
Quebec,  it  was  my  unspeakable  joy  to  see  again  my  parlour 
constantly  filled  by  the  6lite  of  my  dear  countrymen,  who 
wanted  to  hear  the  Gospel  message  the  Good  Master  was 
sending  to  them.  I  had  also  to  bless  God  for  the  daily  marks 
of  Christian  regard  and  kindness  I  received  from  the  Prot- 
estants of  all  denominations.  The  evening  lectures  continued 
also  to  be  attended  by  as  many  people  as  the  large  hall  could 
contain,  and  this,  without  a  single  mark  of  public  bad  feeling 
from  any  quarter. 

Friends  and  foes,  Protestants  as  well  as  Roman  Catholics, 
were  equally  astonished  and   glad   at   such   an    unexpected 


Further  Experiences  in   Preaching  183 

triumph  of  the  great  principle  of  liberty  against  slavery;  of 
fair  play  against  brute  force;  and  of  truth  against  error; 
since,  till  then,  the  most  deplorable  as  well  as  the  most  bloody 
riots  had  so  often  been  a  dark  s^^ot  on  the  fair  name  of  Mon- 
treal. 

To  the  many  who  asked  me  how  such  a  change  could  be 
seen,  I  answered,  "  This  is  the  Lord's  work.  The  hour  is 
coming  fast  when  the  dark  night  of  Popery  will  have  to  dis- 
appear before  the  shining  sun  of  the  Gospel.  What  you  see 
now  is  the  dawning  of  that  blessed  day.  This  is  not  my  work, 
it  is  our  merciful  heavenly  Father's  work.  Let  us  bless  Him 
for  it." 

It  would  be  too  tedious  to  give  the  details  of  the  different 
evangelical  missions  of  the  next  month,  in  the  district  of 
Montreal.  I  will  only  mention  two  or  three  on  account  of 
some  interesting  circumstances  connected  with  them. 

A  great  number  of  Beloeil,  Chambly,  and  St.  Mathias  peo- 
ple had  requested  me  to  give  them  a  week  of  my  time,  and 
they  had  selected  the  splendid  hotel  of  Beloeil  Mountain  for 
the  place  of  the  meetings,  for  that  hotel  had  a  very  large 
parlour  where  several  hundreds  of  people  could  easily  be  accom- 
modated. Its  manager  was  a  true  gentleman  who  had  been  an 
officer  in  the  French  army.  He  had  attended  several  of  our 
meetings  in  Montreal,  where  he  had  bravely  and  publicly 
given  up  the  errors  of  Rome  to  follow  the  Gospel.  I  was 
then  sure  to  find  in  that  hotel  the  protection  I  wanted  for 
myself  and  those  of  my  dear  countrymen  who  would  come  to 
hear  me.  I  was  not  mistaken.  The  success  of  those  meet- 
ings was  again  above  my  most  sanguine  expectation.  The 
large  and  si)lendid  parlour  was  filled  from  morning  till  night, 
by  inquiring  people  of  every  condition,  coming  from  every 
point  of  the  compass. 

But  on  the  last  days,  a  respectable  farmer  came  from  St. 
Mary  to  tell  me  that  one  of  the  priests  had  said  in  his  pres- 
ence to  some  of  his  people:  "Just  as  you  have  a  right  to 
kill  a  wolf  when  crossing  the  prairie  to  slaughter  your  sheep, 


184  Forty  Years  in  the    Church  of  Christ 

so  you  have  the  right  to  kill  that  miserable  apostate,  Chini- 
quy,  who  is  destroying  our  holy  religion." 

"Do  not  betray  me,"  said  the  good  farmer,  "  but  be  on  your 
guard  when  you  see  a  man  with  a  red  collar  around  his  neck. 
He  will  have  a  pistol  to  shoot  you  if  he  finds  his  opportunity, 
for  he  is  a  good  shot." 

I  thanked  him,  and  I  gave  my  secret  to  the  fearless  French 
ex=oflBcer,  that  he  might  see  the  best  way  of  protecting  my 
life,  though  I  asked  liim  not  to  do  any  harm  to  the  would=be 
murderer,  if  possible. 

Among  my  hearers  that  evening  (it  was  Saturday),  I 
noticed  a  strong,  tall  man  just  before  me  not  more  than  ten 
feet  distant,  with  a  red  collar  around  his  neck.  His  manners 
indicated  that  he  was  half  drunk,  and  several  times  he  made 
so  much  noise  that  I  had  to  stop  speaking  on  account  of  him. 
I  had  hardly  given  the  last  word  of  my  address,  when  he 
made  a  quick  movement  through  the  crowd  and  stopped 
when  not  more  than  five  feet  distant  from  me.  Then,  with  a 
horrible  oath,  he  said,  "This  is  your  last  heretical  address." 

Drawing  then  a  pistol  from  his  coat  pocket,  he  pointed  it 
towards  me,  uttering  a  new  blasphemy. 

But  the  French  oflBcer  had  watched  all  his  movements  and 
had  remained  close  by  him  since  he  had  entered  the  room. 
Quick  as  lightning,  he  drew  his  sword,  and  struck  such  a  blow 
under  the  pistol  that  it  flew  almost  to  the  upper  floor  from 
the  hand  of  the  woukbbe  murderer,  after  the  ball  had  gone 
and  broken  a  pane  of  the  opposite  window. 

This  rash  and  daring  act  was  followed  by  an  indescribable 
confusion.  Some  of  the  women  fainted,  some  were  crying, 
but  I  had  a  number  of  friends  who  did  not  lose  their 
presence  of  mind.  With  the  sword  at  his  back,  that  miserable 
tool  of  the  priests  was  quickly  driven,  or  rather  roughly  car- 
ried away  to  a  long  distance,  where  he  received  such  a  lesson 
that  he  was  not  tempted  to  come  again. 

The  next  few  weeks  were  given  to  St.  Pie,  St.  Mary,  St. 
Athenase,   St.   Gregory,   with   the   same   crowds   of  Roman 


Further  Experiences  in   Preaching  185 

Catholics  who  were  trampling  under  their  feet  with  the  utmost 
contempt,  the  f  ulminations,  excommunications  and  interdicts 
of  their  religious  tyrants  in  their  eagerness  to  hear  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel. 

At  St.  Mary  it  was  my  joy  to  address  the  large  and  so 
admirable  congregation  of  converts  which  the  zealous  and 
fearless  Baptist  ministers  of  the  Grande  Ligne  Mission  had 
gained  from  Rome.  That  congregation,  composed  of  thirty 
families,  was  then  under  the  care  of  the  late  Reverend  M. 
Roussy,  whose  name  will  be  blessed  as  long  as  there  will  be  a 
disciple  of  the  Gospel  in  Canada. 

I  could  not  contain  my  tears  of  joy  when  I  saw  so  many 
of  my  dear  countrymen  who  had  broken  the  yoke  of  Rome 
gathered  in  their  comfortable  chapel.  These  interesting  con- 
verts, with  their  pastor,  were  among  those  I  had  most  cruelly 
abused  and  persecuted  when  I  was  a  priest  of  Rome.  How 
happy  I  was,  then,  to  have  the  opportunity  of  asking  and 
obtaining  their  pardon!  And  how  my  heart  was  filled  with 
joy  when  I  could  unite  my  feeble  voice  with  theirs  to  bless 
the  dear  Saviour  for  His  mercies  towards  us  all. 

The  last  place  in  Canada  I  laboured  in  before  leaving 
for  my  dear  colony  of  Illinois,  was  Longueuil. 

In  the  midst  of  that  important  village,  the  Baptists  had, 
then,  a  thriving  mission  school  for  Protestant  and  Catholic 
young  ladies,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Reverend 
Theodore  Lafleur. 

In  the  good  providence  of  God,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Lafleur 
had  been  brought  to  the  light  of  the  Gospel  many  years  be- 
fore me,  when  he  was  quite  a  young  man;  and  some  wealthy 
Protestant,  admiring  his  piety  and  his  rare  talents,  had  sent 
him  to  Switzerland  to  pursue  a  complete  course  of  study. 

Having  returned  to  Canada  several  years  since,  he  had  con- 
secrated himself  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  our  coun- 
trymen, with  remarkable  success.  Though  I  had  bitterly 
persecuted  him,  when  I  was  a  priest  of  Rome,  I  had  become 
the  object  of  his  fervent  prayers  at  the  Throne  of  Mercy.     He 


i86  P'orty   Years  in    the  Church  of  Christ 

had  addressed  me  several  letters  full  of  Christian  logic  in  the 
beginning  of  my  public  conflict  with  the  Bishops,  to  show  me 
that  the  only  way  to  possess  the  glorious  freedom  and  the 
Divine  truths,  which  Christ  had  brought  from  heaven  to  save 
the  world,  was  to  entirely  break  the  yoke  of  the  Pope  and 
accept  the  Gospel. 

More  than  that,  his  burning  zeal  for  my  conversion  had  in- 
duced him  to  cross  the  thousand  miles  which  were  between 
us,  in  order  to  come  to  St.  Anne,  Illinois,  and  spend  several 
days  in  friendly  discussion  with  me. 

Among  the  many  gifts  which  Mr.  Lafleur  has  received  from 
G(xl,  is  a  wonderful  treasure  of  kindness  and  affability  to 
which  his  terse  logic  and  truly  admirable  Christian  spirit 
gave  him  an  irresistible  power  over  me. 

When  alone,  after  having  spent  one  or  two  hours  with  him, 
I  had  to  confess  to  myself  that  there  was,  in  that  so-called 
heretic,  a  perfume  of  piety  I  had  never  met  in  my  church.  I 
was  also  confounded  by  the  irresistible  power  of  his  argu- 
ments, and  the  teachings  of  history  to  which  I  had  nothing 
to  oppose. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  letters  and  the  private  conver- 
sations of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lafleur  are  among  the  providential 
things  which,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  helped  me  much  to  ac- 
cept the  truth  when  it  came  to  my  mind  with  its  splendour. 

I  was,  then,  happy  to  have  an  opportunity  of  showing  the 
Christian  esteem  and  the  gratitude  I  felt  towards  that  true 
servant  of  God,  in  the  two  days  I  was  his  guest  in  his  literary 
and  evangelical  institute  of  Longueuil. 

Many  citizens  of  Longueuil  availed  themselves  of  my  pres- 
ence in  their  village  to  come  and  ask  me  a  thousand  questions 
about  what  they  called  my  new  religion,  and  this  gave  me  the 
golden  opportunity  of  presenting  to  them  the  saving  truths 
of  the  Gospel. 

During  the  first  night,  a  few  Roman  Catholic  boys,  sent  by 
the  priests,  had  caused  us  some  trouble,  by  throwing  stones 
through  the  windows  and  breaking  the  glasses.  But  the  respect- 


Further  Experiences  in   Preaching  187 

able  part  of  the  population  were  indignant  at  that  act  of 
brutal  cowardice.  The  next  evening  they  came  in  great  num- 
bers to  hear  the  address  I  gave  them,  in  the  large  hall  of  their 
village.  And  though  they  were  excommunicated  and  thrown 
out  of  the  Church  of  Rome  by  that  very  fact,  they  were  so 
pleased  with  the  jproofs  I  gave  them  that  their  Pope,  with  his 
cardinals,  bishops  and  jDriests,  was  a  fraud,  that  it  was  twelve 
o'clock  at  night  when  they  consented  to  be  dismissed,  Very 
few  of  that  large  meeting  left  the  hall  without  shaking 
hands  with  me  and  heartily  thanking  me  for  what  they  had 
heard.  And  the  perfect  silence  and  tranquillity  of  that  whole 
night,  told  us  clearly  that  we  were  in  the  midst  not  only  of  a 
respectable  and  intelligent  people,  but  among  true  friends, 
when  in  the  village  of  Longueuil. 

So  it  was  that,  alone,  and,  humanly  speaking,  without  pro- 
tection, I  had  been  able  to  dare  the  power  of  Rome  in  her 
strongholds,  Montreal  and  Quebec,  for  two  months.  But  I 
was  not  alone.  No!  For  the  protecting  hand  of  my  God 
had  been  a  visible  shield  over  my  head  all  the  time. 

The  Gospel  of  Christ  had  been  preached  to  at  least  50,000 
people,  many  of  whom  had  never  heard  it.  Several  thousand 
Bibles  or  New  Testaments  had  been  distributed  to  people  who 
had  never  seen  them  before.  And  the  Holy  Book  was  to 
remain  there  to  feed  the  hungry  souls,  and  quench  the  thirst 
of  my  dear  countrymen. 

Where  could  I  find  words  to  express  my  gratitude  to  my 
God  for  such  a  visible  and  constant  protection  through  so 
many  dangers  and  obstacles? 

When  going  back  to  my  dear  mission  of  Illinois  I  could 
say  with  the  prophet: 

"1.  If  it  had  not  been  the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side,  now 
may  Israel  say; 

"  2.  If  it  had  not  been  the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side,  when 
men  rose  up  against  us: 

"8.  Then  they  had  swallowed  us  up  quick,  when  their 
wrath  was  kindled  against  us: 


1 88  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

"4.  Then  the  waters  had  overwhelmed  us,  the  stream  had 
gone  over  our  soul: 

"5.     Tlien  the  proud  waters  had  gone  over  our  soul. 

"  6.  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  who  hath  not  given  us  as  a  prey 
to  their  teeth. 

"  7.  Our  soul  is  escaped  as  a  bird  out  of  the  snare  of 
the  fowlers:  the  snare  is  broken,  and  we  are  escaped. 

"  8.  Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  who  made 
heaven  and  earth."     (Psalm  124.) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Admitted  into  the  Presbyterian  Church  with  the  Bible  Alone 
in  My  Hand 

The  fifteenth  of  April,  1860,  ought  to  be  a  day  never  to  be 
forgotten  by  the  French  Canadian  disciples  of  the  Gospel  at 
St.  Anne, 

After  we  had  broken  the  fetters  which  had  kept  us  chained 
to  the  feet  of  the  idols  of  Rome,  in  order  to  become  the  happy 
followers  of  Christ,  we  felt  that  we  could  not  honestly  con- 
tinue to  call  ourselves  Roman  Catholics.  We  had  to  change 
our  church  name. 

In  a  general  meeting  of  all  our  dear  converts,  where  every 
one  was  invited  to  give  his  views,  we  unanimously  adopted 
the  beautiful  name  of  Christian  Catholics,  and  we  determined 
to  give  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  all  the  difiPerent  denomina- 
tions of  Protestants  who  would  tell  us  that  they  were  looking 
to  Christ  as  their  only  Saviour,  that  they  accepted  the 
Gospel  as  their  only  rule  of  life. 

From  the  beginning  of  our  religious  change  my  fear  was 
that  we  were  to  make  a  new  branch  of  the  Christian  Church 
and  that  sooner  or  later  the  new  branch  would  be  called 
Chiniquy's  Church  as  had  occurred  more  or  less  in  the  days 
of  Luther  and  Calvin. 

I  was  horrified  at  the  thought  and  possibility  of  such  an  oc- 
currence, and  we  determined  to  avoid  it  at  any  cost.  We  felt 
that  there  were  already  too  many  separate  branches  in  the 
Church  of  Christ. 

It  was  not  long  before  we  saw  that  our  fears  were  too  well 
founded;  every  one,  even  amongst  the  Protestants,  instead  of 
calling  us  by  the  beautiful  name  of  Christian  Catholics,  called 
us  Church  of  Chiniquy.     The  only  remedy  to  this  threaten- 

189 


190  Forty   Years  in    the   Church   of  Christ 

in^  drn\vl)ack,  was  to  connect  ourselves  with  some  of  the 
neif^hbouring  venerable  churches,  and  we  soon  made  our 
choice  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  For  our  intention  was  to 
form  a  sacred  link  with  the  martyred  Christians  of  France 
known  and  blessed  all  over  the  world  as  Huguenots  for  hav- 
ing so  heroically  shed  their  blood  for  the  Gospel  cause.  I 
showed  to  our  dear  converts  that  many  among  them  were 
bearing  the  very  names  of  those  heroic  soldiers  of  Christ,  that 
probably  the  blood  of  many  of  those  blessed  martyrs  was 
running  in  their  veins. 

Six  elders  were  chosen  to  accompany  me  to  Chicago,  in 
order  to  respectfully  ask  the  Presbytery  of  that  grand  city  to 
give  us  the  hand  of  fellowship  and  allow  us  to  connect  our- 
selves with  that  noble  Presbyterian  Church  whose  branches 
extend  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  earth  and  whose 
shining  Christian  faith  is  a  terror  to  Popery  all  over  the 
world. 

How  happy  every  one  of  those  venerable  ministers  felt, 
when,  after  the  many  questions  everyone  of  them  had  to  put 
to  us,  they  found  that  our  religious  views  were  perfectly  cor- 
rect, and  that  the  great  religious  movement  we  were  in- 
augurating was  perfectly  Christian.  They  unanimously  con- 
sented to  receive  us  into  the  great  Presbyterian  family  and 
oflPered  their  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith  for  us  to 
adopt,  and  thus  declare  ourselves  faithful  children  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

They  were,  however,  not  prepared  for  the  disappointment 
they  were  to  meet,  when  I  respectfully  requested  them  to 
withdraw  that  book  and  to  put  the  Bible  in  its  place,  as  the 
only  standard  of  our  faith  and  life. 

With  an  emotion  which  he  could  not  conceal  the  modera- 
tor answered  me,  "  My  dear  Mr.  Chiniquy,  we  cannot  do 
that.  Our  custom  is  that  our  venerable  Westminster 
Book  of  Faith  is  the  standard  to  which  the  new  members  we 
receive  subscribe  as  the  pledge  they  give  us  that  they  wish 
to  become  Presbyterians.     We  cannot  change  that  rule." 


Christian  Catholics  191 

I  answered  him,  "  Mr.  Moderator,  please  do  not  forget  that 
you  have  here  to  deal  with  babes  in  the  faith.  You  must 
bear  with  children  when  they  request  you  to  give  them  the 
food  which  you  are  not  accustomed  to  give  to  fulhgrown 
people.  We  do  not  come  here  to  teach  you  any  lesson,  we 
want  to  be  taught  by  you.  However,  we  respectfully  ask  you 
to  allow  us  to  give  you  the  reasons  why  we  want  the  Holy 
Bible  to  be  the  only  key  which  will  open  to  us  the  gates  of 
that  Church  of  Christ  of  which  He  is  not  only  the  corner 
stone,  but  which  is  the  blood  of  His  blood  and  the  flesh  of 
His  flesh.  When  we  ask  you  to  grant  us  the  honour  and 
privilege  to  become  Presbyterians,  it  is  not  in  a  narrow, 
sectarian  sense  of  the  word,  it  is  the  large,  broad  sense  of 
Christianity.  We  do  not  want  to  press  only  the  Presby- 
terians to  our  breasts,  we  want  to  press  all  those  who  love 
and  serve  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  look  upon  Him  as 
their  only  hope  and  their  only  Saviour,  by  whatsoever  name 
they  may  be  called.  We  do  not  want  to  be  on  the  narrow 
platform,  for  instance,  on  which  the  Old  and  New  Schools 
stand,  and  on  which  they  fight  against  each  other  as  wild 
cats.  We  want  to  belong  to  that  large.  Divine  platform  which 
our  adorable  Saviour  presented  to  the  young  man  who  asked 
him,  'Good  Master,  what  must  I  do  to  have  eternal  life?' 
We  want  a  platform,  in  a  word,  on  which  we  shall  love  as 
brethren,  and  press  to  our  breasts  as  brethren  and  sisters,  all 
those  who,  repenting  of  their  sins,  look  to  Christ  and  love 
Him  as  their  only  Saviour.  Allow  me  to  tell  you  that  after 
reading  many  of  the  books  published  by  the  most  learned 
men  of  your  different  denominations,  we  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  your  differences  are  more  in  appearance  than 
reality.  Do  not  find  fault  with  us,  if  we  respectfully  ask  you 
to  allow  us  to  believe  that  our  adorable  and  merciful  Saviour 
was  indicating  your  different  denominations  when  saying, 
*I  am  the  vine;  ye  are  the  branches;  and  My  Father  is  the 
husbandman.'  There  is  no  need  at  all  that  the  branches 
should  be  of  the  same  form  and  the  same  size  to  bring  good 


192  Fortv  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

fruits.  The  only  thing  necessary  is  that  they  should  be  well 
united  with  the  vine.  I  got  that  assurance  a  few  days  ago, 
when  rondini.?  that  marvelous  fifteenth  chapter  of  St.  John, 
under  the  shadow  of  a  splendid  vino  which  I  have  j^lanted  in 
my  garden,  and  which  I  cultivate  with  my  own  hands.  After 
reading  with  a  prayerful  attention  these  marvelous  and 
mysterious  words  addressed  by  Christ  to  His  disciples,  '  I 
am  the  vine;  ye  are  the  branches,'  I  observed  for  the  first 
time  that  there  was  not  a  single  one  of  the  branches  like  the 
other  branches.  I  noticed  for  the  first  time  a  branch,  a  very 
near  one,  which  was  very  large,  just  as  your  noble  and  great 
English  and  American  Episcopal  Church,  and  just  at  a  very 
short  distance  I  saw  a  small  branch  resembling  your  modest, 
though  much  to  be  admired  Congregational  Church.  A  little 
farther  on  there  was  a  fine  branch  going  straight  up  towards 
heaven,  our  ardent  enthusiastic  Methodist  brethren,  and  just 
by  its  side  I  much  admired  another  branch  which  was  de- 
scending like  our  Baptist  friends  when  they  go  down  in  their 
water  baths.  And  last,  though  not  the  least,  I  had  to  admire 
some  very  crooked  branches,  as  the  beloved  Presbyterians 
with  whom  we  want  to  unite  ourselves.  But  I  remarked  that, 
though  all  the  branches  of  that  vine  were  quite  different  in 
appearance,  they  were  all  loaded  with  splendid  grapes:  for 
they  were  all  perfectly  united  with  the  vine! 

"  Evidently  there  are  some  varities  of  views  between  the 
many  different  denominations  which  form  the  Church  of 
Christ.  But  so  long  as  Jesus,  and  Jesus  alone,  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  is  their  only  hope,  their 
only  refuge,  their  only  life,  and  His  Gospel  their  only  rule  of 
faitli,  we  want  to  press  them  all  to  our  hearts  as  our  brethren 
on  earth,  and  our  co-citizens  in  heaven. 

"  This  is  the  reason  that,  though  we  entertain  great  respect 
for  your  Westminster  Confession,  we  ask  you  as  a  favour  to 
allow  us  to  lay  our  hands  on  the  Bible  as  the  only  door 
through  which  we  wish  to  enter  the  grand  and  noble  Presby- 
terian Church." 


Christian   Catholics  193 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  attention  and  kindness 
with  which  my  address  was  received  and  my  request  granted. 
The  next  morning  found  every  one  of  the  members  of  that 
Presbytery  on  their  way  to  Kankakee  City,  by  the  Illinois 
Central  Railway.  There  they  found  good  carriages  in  wait- 
ing to  drive  them  to  the  village  of  St.  Anne,  about  twelve 
miles  distant.  The  day  was  splendid  and  the  grand  scenery 
of  the  boundless  and  rich  prairies,  sjjreading  on  every  side  as 
far  as  the  vision  could  extend,  was  magnificent.  Our  large 
chapel  was  more  than  crowded. 

Multitudes  of  our  dear  converts  had  come  from  all  the 
surrounding  towns  and  cities,  even  from  Chicago,  to  the 
number  of  more  than  2,000. 

It  was  as  much  with  their  tears  of  joy  as  with  the  words  of 
their  lips  that  the  members  of  the  Chicago  Presbytery  ad- 
dressed them  and  received  them  all  as  the  new-born  children 
of  the  great  Presbyterian  family. 

Words  are  inadequate  to  express  the  sentiments  of  joy  and 
gratitude  to  God  which  were  filling  every  heart  in  that 
solemn  and  never-to=be=forgotten  day. 

A  new  and  glorious  page  in  the  history  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  was  written.  The  melodious  voice  of  our  bell  was 
proclaiming  far  and  wide  the  new  victory  of  the  Gospel. 
The  angels  of  God  were  again  singing  their  harmonious 
chorus — their  hymn  of  joy: 

"  Glory  be  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  good 
will  toward  men! " 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Muskegon — On  the  Borders  of  Lake  Michigan 

If  you  want  to  have  aii  idea  of  the  marvelous  lumber  in- 
dustry of  the  United  States,  go  and  see  the  numerous  saw^ 
mills  which  are  around  the  city  of  Muskegon,  and  count,  if 
you  can,  the  piles  of  lumber,  of  every  size,  which  stand  like 
giant  sentinels  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan. 

In  the  year  18(52  the  greatest  number  of  those  saw^mills  were 
manned  by  our  French  Canadian  emigrants  who,  to  the  num- 
ber of  hundreds  of  thousands,  had  to  leave  the  country  of  their 
birth,  in  order  to  go  and  eat  the  bitter  bread  of  exile  in  the 
United  States. 

The  Archbishop  of    Quebec,    Bishop   Baillargeon,  had  a 
near  relative  among  those  emigrants,  who  addressed  me  the 
following  letter  at  the  end  of  September,  1862: 
'•  Dear  Father  Chiniquy: — 

"  Though  I  have  not  met  you  for  several  years,  I  hope 
that  you  will  remember  me  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  the 
near  relative  to  the  present  Archbishop  of  Quebec,  Bishop 
Baillargeon,  who  visited  you  in  the  autumn  of  1843  when 
you  were  curate  of  Kamouraska.  Obliged,  as  so  many  of  our 
countrymen,  to  exile  myself,  I  am  keeping  a  large  boarding 
house  here  in  Muskegon,  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Many  of  our  countrymen  have  emigrated  here  with  me. 
Like  yourself,  we  were  born  and  raised  in  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  but  you  understand  that  our  faith  has  received  a 
serious  shock  by  your  so  public  and  solemn  step  of  passing 
to  the  side  of  the  Protestants.  However,  I  would  not  be 
honest  if  I  were  leaving  you  under  the  impression  that  our 
own  faith  in  the  Church  of  Rome  had  not  been  shaken  be- 
fore you  left  it. 

194 


On   the  Borders   of  Lake    Michigan  195 

"  Our  last  two  priests  have  done  more  here  than  yourself 
to  cause  us  to  suspect  that  the  religion  of  the  Pope  of  Rome 
is  not  the  religion  of  Christ. 

"  One  of  them  was  almost  constantly  drunk.  Several  times 
it  has  been  my  sad  duty  to  pick  him  up  when  lying  drunk 
along  the  streets. 

"We  complained  to  the  Bishop,  and,  at  our  request,  he 
gave  us  another  one.  But  we  fell  into  bad  hands  again,  for 
this  last  one  was  making  use  of  the  confessional  to  corrupt 
his  female  penitents.  His  life  was  a  public  scandal  which 
forced  us  to  blush.  The  shameful  conduct  of  those  priests  is, 
to  many  of  us,  a  sure  indication  that  they  do  not  believe  in 
the  religion  they  preach,  and  we  ask  ourselves :  Is  it  not  a  su- 
preme act  of  folly  to  believe  in  it? 

"  There  is  no  need  to  tell  you  that  the  scandalous  lives  of 
those  priests,  with  your  public  exit  from  our  church,  have  so 
shaken  our  faith  that  many  of  us  have  absolutely  ceased  from 
attending  any  religious  services.  However,  that  state  of 
things  cannot  last  long.  We  want  a  religion  for  ourselves  and 
our  children.  But  how  can  we  make  the  choice  of  the  true  re- 
ligion of  Christ,  without  the  help  of  some  one  who  is  wiser 
than  we  are? 

"  Please  do  not  rebuke  us  when  we  ask  you  to  come  to  our 
help  in  these  days  of  supreme  anxiety  and  distress.  In  the 
name  of  our  common  Saviour,  come  and  give  us  the  benefit 
of  your  experience  and  knowledge  in  the  choice  we  must 
make  of  the  religious  way  which  will  lead  us  to  a  happy 
eternal  life,  after  the  sad  experiences  of  these  few  days  of 
tribulations  through  which  we  have  to  pass  in  this  land  of 
exile  and  misery." 

The  only  answer  I  could  give  to  that  so  pressing  request 
was  to  go  without  any  delay  to  the  help  of  those  dear,  but  so 
distressed,  countrymen.  A  few  days  later  it  was  my  privilege 
to  be  the  guest  of  my  old  friend,  Baillargeon,  and  to  shake 
hands  with  the  multitude  of  my  dear  countrymen  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded. 


196  Forty   Years  in    the  Church   of  Christ 

The  news  of  my  arrival  had  been  quickly  spread,  and  I  was 
hardly  half  an  hour  in  the  hall  of  the  hotel,  when  it  was 
crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity. 

I  saw  at  once  that  I  was  in  the  presence  of  a  great  diffi- 
culty. Every  one  of  that  multitude  had  his  private  and  per- 
sonal difficulties.  Some  wanted  me  to  tell  them  how  it  was 
possible  that  a  priest  could  make  God  with  a  wafer,  others 
wanted  to  know  how  it  was  possible  that  a  drunken  priest, 
whose  name  was  connected  with  sins,  could  forgive  the  sins 
of  his  penitent,  whose  life,  very  often,  was  more  moral  than 
that  of  his  Father  Confessor.     I  told  them: 

"  My  dear  friends,  we  should  avoid  a  very  fatal  mistake. 
If  you  speak  all  together  with  the  hope  of  getting  the  answers 
at  once,  we  shall  have  a  renewal  of  the  confusion  of  the 
builders  of  the  tower  of  Babel.  Please  let  only  one  of  you 
alone  put  his  questions,  and  when  I  shall  have  answered 
him,  another  one  shall  have  the  same  privilege."  This  being 
agreed,  Mr.  Baillargeon  said:  "  As  it  is  my  privilege  to  have 
you  in  my  humble  house,  I  will  take  the  liberty  of  opening 
the  meeting  by  calling  attention  to  the  article  of  our  religion 
which  I  consider  the  most  puzzling  of  all.  "We  are  told  that 
when  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  took  the  bread  in  His  hand  at 
the  supper  with  His  disciples,  '  After  He  had  given  thanks, 
He  brake  it  and  said,  Take,  eat;  this  is  My  body,  which  is 
broken  for  you:  this  do  in  remembrance  of  Me. 

"  '  After  the  same  manner  also  He  took  the  cup,  saying,  This 
cup  is  the  New  Testament  in  My  blood:  this  do  ye,  as  oft 
as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of  Me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat 
this  bread,  and  drink  this  cup,  ye  do  shew  the  Lord's  death 
till  He  come.'     (1  Cor.  11:  24-26.) 

"  Our  Roman  Catholic  Church  teaches  us  that,  by  this  cere- 
mony and  these  words,  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  not  only 
changed  the  bread  and  the  wine  into  His  body,  soul,  and 
divinity,  but  that  He  gave  to  His  apostles  and  to  all  our 
priests  the  power  to  perform  the  same  stupendous  miracle. 

"  Now,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  had  to  believe  that,  and  to  teach 


On    the   Borders  of  Lake   Michigan  197 

it,  before  you  left  our  church — but  we  know  that  you  do  not 
believe  it  any  longer.  Now  please  give  us  the  reasons  you 
had  for  changing  your  faith  on  that  subject." 

"Yes!  yes!"  repeated  every  one  of  the  multitude  which 
surrounded  me.  "  Tell  us  why  you  have  changed  your  views 
on  that  solemn  question." 

I  replied,  "  Before  answering  you,  let  me  read  you  the  first 
and  second  commandment  of  God  as  they  were  given  to 
Moses  on  Mount  Sinai, 

"  'And  God  spake  all  these  words,  saying: 

" '  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  have  brought  thee  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage.  Thou  shalt 
have  no  other  gods  before  Me.  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto 
thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  anything  that  is 
in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in 
the  water  under  the  earth:  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself 
to  them,  nor  serve  them:  for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jeal- 
ous God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil- 
dren unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations  of  them  that  hate 
Me;  And  showing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love 
Me,  and  keep  My  commandments.' 

"  In  the  second  commandment  our  God  forbids  to  take  a 
created  thing, — to  make  an  image  of  it — to  make  a  god  of 
it, — and  adore  it. 

"  But  what  does  the  Poj^e  of  Rome  order  his  priests  to  do 
every  morning?  He  orders  them  to  change  those  wafers  into 
gods!  Does  he  not  give  them  the  power  to  make  as  many 
gods  as  there  are  wafers  before  them?  But  do  you  not  see 
that  this  is  an  imposture?  The  very  moment  that  you  have 
said  that  there  is  only  one  God,  you  are  sure  that  the  Pope  is 
an  impostor  when  he  says  that  the  priest  has  the  power  to 
make  as  many  gods  as  there  are  wafers  about  him !  Surely 
our  Saviour,  when  holding  the  bread,  said,  '  This  is  My 
body,'  but  He  immediately  added,  '  Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  Me,'  that  we  might  understand  that  it  was  not  His 
body,  but  only  a  remembrance  of  His  body. 


198  h'orty    Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

"In  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  chapter  10:  9,  Christ  says,  'I 
am  the  door,'  and  in  chapter  15:1,  He  says,  '  I  am  the 
true  vine.'  Will  the  Pope  nnike  us  believe  that  our  Saviour 
was  really  a  door  and  a  vine?  No.  Our  Saviour  M-as  neither 
a  vine  nor  a  door.  When  He  called  Himself  a  vine,  a  door, 
it  was  oidy  in  a  fiijurative  way;  it  was  to  show  us  that  it  was 
through  Him  alone  that  we  could  have  any  hope  to  enter  into 
heaven. 

"  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  the  rock  which  Moses  struck  with 
his  rod  in  order  to  quench  the  thirst  of  the  Israelites  in  the 
desert,  says,  '  That  rock  was  Christ ! ' 

"  Will  the  Pope  persuade  you  that  that  rock  was  really 
Christ?  You  understand  that  it  was  only  through  a  figure  of 
language  that  Paul  said,  'That  rock  was  Christ.'  It  was  only 
to  make  us  understand  that  it  was  only  to  Christ  alone  we 
must  go  to  find  the  spiritual  favours  we  are  in  need  of  for  our 
salvation.  So  our  beloved  Saviour  called  the  bread  of  the 
holy  communion  His  body,  that  we  might,  when  receiving 
the  bread  of  the  communion,  forever  remember  that  His 
body  was  nailed  to  the  cross,  and  He  died  the  horrible  death 
of  Calvary,  that  by  His  sacrifice  we  might  have  our  sins  for- 
given. 

"  Is  it  necessary  to  address  you  a  long  speech  to  prove  to 
you  that  the  Pope  and  his  priests  are  impostors  the  very 
moment  that  they  assure  you  that  they  make  as  many  gods, 
every  morning,  as  they  have  baked  wafers  before  their  eyes? 
Transubstantiation  is  an  imposture;  the  mass  has  been  in- 
vented to  make  money.  Paul,  speaking  to  the  Athenians, 
said,  '  God  cannot  be  made  with  gold  and  silver.'  If  the  great 
apostle  had  been  questioned  on  that  subject,  he  certainly 
would  have  denied  that  God  Almighty  can  either  be  made 
with  the  cakes  baked  by  the  servants  of  the  priests.  The 
ceremony  of  the  masses,  for  which  you  have  to  pay  from 
twenty- five  cents  to  one  dollar,  or  more,  is  an  imposture  in- 
vented to  fill  the  purse  of  the  Pope  and  his  priests. 

"The  moment  our  Saviour  has  said:  *I  do  not  come  to  break 


On  the  Borders   of  LaKe    Michigan  199 

the  commandments  of  My  Father,  but  I  come  to  fulfil  them,' 
He  could  not  take  a  created  thing,  a  wafer,  a  small  piece  of 
bread,  into  his  hand  and  make  a  god  of  it.  We  see  that  the 
doctrines  as  well  as  the  practices  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
about  the  Communion  are  not  the  same  that  we  find  in  the 
Gospel;  for,  in  that  Holy  Book,  we  see  that  the  apostles,  and 
Christ  Himself,  received  their  first  communion  after  supper. 
But,  according  to  the  teachings  of  the  priests,  it  is  a  mortal  sin 
to  receive  the  Holy  Communion  after  breakfast,  and  still 
more  after  supper.  If  the  teachings  of  the  Pope  and  his 
priests  are  correct  on  that  subject,  we  must  believe  that 
Christ  and  His  apostles  were  guilty  of  a  mortal  sin  for  dar- 
ing to  receive  the  great  sacrament  after  supper!  And,  as  they 
never  repented  of  that  sin,  we  must  believe  that  they  are  for- 
ever lost  for  having  made  such  a  sacrilegious  first  commun- 
ion." 

It  pleased  the  Good  Master  to  give  such  a  blessing  to  my 
few  clear  and  simple  arguments  that  it  was  evident  the  huge 
fabric  of  the  teachings  of  Rome  on  that  subject  had  crum- 
bled down  before  their  candid  minds. 

It  was  then  nearly  ten  P.  M.,  I  added: 

"  You  have  all  worked  hard  to=day,  you  want  some  rest. 
Come  again  to-morrow  evening,  and  with  the  help  of  God  I 
will  continue  to  answer  your  questions  and  to  show  you  some 
of  the  errors  of  Rome." 

And  I  dismissed  them  after  a  short  prayer. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Second  Day  at  Muskegon.     A  Narrow  Escape 

The  bright  sun  had  hardly  spread  its  rays  on  the  peaceful 
waters  of  Lake  Michigan  the  second  day  of  my  evangelical 
work  at  Muskegon  when  two  of  my  dear  countrymen 
knocked  at  my  door  to  warn  me  of  an  imminent  though  unsus- 
pected danger. 

"  Among  your  hearers  last  night,  "  they  said,  "  there  was  a 
young  man  called  Bowker  who,  though  half  drunk,  knew  well 
what  he  said.  He  had  not  walked  fifty  feet  out  of  the  door 
last  night,  when  we  heard  him  swearing  that  your  address 
against  his  Church  was  the  last  one  you  would  give.  He 
swore  that  he  would  shoot  you  dead,  this  evening,  if  you  dared 
to  continue  to  speak  as  you  did  last  night.  We  come  to 
warn  you  before  it  is  too  late.  But  please,  when  you  will 
make  use  of  our  warning  to  protect  yourself,  do  not  speak  to 
anyone  of  the  friendly  message  that  we  bring  you,  this  morn- 
ing, for  there  is  Indian  blood  in  that  young  man.  His 
great=grandmother  was  an  Iroquois  squaw,  and  he  is  as  cruel, 
merciless  and  blood-thirsty  as  his  savage  ancestors  were.  He 
will  kill  us  if  he  is  aware  that  we  have  warned  you  against  his 
vengeance."  I  answered  them:  "No  doubt  he  has  got  from 
his  priest  the  notion  that  it  is  his  right  and  duty  to  kill  me. 
In  authentic  Popish  books  it  is  positively  said  that  it  is  not  a 
sin  for  a  Koman  Catholic  to  kill  a  Protestant.  More  than  that, 
it  is  said  that  it  is  such  a  good  and  holy  thing  to  kill  a  her- 
etic that  all  the  sins  of  the  man  who  would  kill  me  would  be 
forgiven  instantly.  When  I  left  the  Church  of  Rome  I 
knew  the  cost.  They  have  already  tried  several  times  to 
iiiurd(>r  me,  but  they  have  failed.     My  hope  is   that  the  same 

200 


A  Narrow  Escape  aoi 

merciful  heavenly  Father,  whose  mighty  hand  has  protected 
me,  will  be  still  my  shield  to=night.  However,  we  must  be 
prudent  and  take  the  precautions  of  common  sense  and  wis- 
dom against  the  threatening  danger,  I  see  that  you  are 
among  the  few  soldiers  who  have  been  honourably  dismissed 
from  the  army  after  serving  your  time.  Please  grant  me  the 
favour  to  follow  my  advice.  I  have  been  told  that  you  have 
a  half =dozen  young  French  Canadians,  honourably  discharged 
from  the  army,  in  this  town.  Try  to  meet  two  or  three  others 
of  them  as  friendly  to  me  as  you  are,  carry  your  guns  well 
concealed  under  your  coats  when  you  come  this  evening  to 
the  meeting.  Put  yourselves  around  that  young  man  and 
watch  him  closely.  If  you  see  that  he  makes  any  demon- 
stration to  do  mischief,  as  quickly  as  a  welhdrilled  soldier 
can  do  it,  put  the  muzzles  of  your  guns  to  his  face,  and 
sternly  tell  him,  '  You  are  a  dead  man  if  you  move  a  finger 
against  Father  Chiniquy  or  anyone  else  here!' 

"  You  will  see  that  the  vision  of  those  guns  so  near  his  face 
will  soon  change  his  mind;  you  will  at  once  turn  that  wolf 
into  a  lamb.  Do  not  do  him  any  harm,  but  wrench  his  pis- 
tol or  his  dagger  from  his  hand,  and  deliver  him  into  the 
hands  of  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  town,  whom  you  will 
engage  to  come  to  the  assembly  for  that  purpose.  Follow 
my  advice  with  wisdom  and  see  that  he  may  not  have  any 
suspicion  of  what  you  are  doing." 

Those  brave  young  countrymen  followed  my  advice  to  per- 
fection. In  the  evening  the  meeting  was,  if  possible,  still 
more  crowded  with  my  dear  fellow  countrymen  who  wanted 
to  know  why  I  had  left  the  Church  of  Rome.  My  object  that 
evening  was  to  show  them  the  sacrilegious  and  idolatrous 
worship  of  Mary  in  the  Church  of  Rome. 

After  telling  them  that  we  should  respect  the  memory  of 
the  mother  of  Christ  as  the  most  blessed  woman  who  has 
ever  existed,  we  ought  not  to  call  her  the  mother  of  God.  I 
showed  them  that  God  being  eternal  and  having  no  begin- 
ning could  not  have  had  any  mother.     That  she  was  the  mother 


102  Forty    Years    in    the   Church  of*  Christ 

of  Christ  only  as  a  man.  That  He  had  really  taken  His 
flesh  from  her  flesli  and  His  blood  from  her  blood — but  He 
could  not  have  taken  His  Divine  nature  and  His  Divine 
person  from  her.  No  woman  can  be  the  mother  of  her  fa- 
ther. The  father  must  be  born  before  the  daughter.  And 
Christ,  as  God,  had  no  beginning — He  had  created  this 
world.  He  was  the  creator  of  Adam  and  Eve.  Christ  could 
not  be  the  son  of  any  man  or  woman.  "  It  is  a  remarkable 
thing,"  I  added,  "  that  in  the  Gospel  Christ  never,  never 
called  Mary  His  mother.  When  addressing  her  or  speak- 
ing of  her,  He  always  called  her  woman.  More  than  that,"  I 
said,  "in  two  of  the  most  solemn  circumstances  of  His  life,  He 
refused  to  acknowledge  her  as  His  mother.  There  is  that 
strange  fact  as  narrated  by  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark  .  .  . 
Here  are  the  very  words  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  When 
Jesus  was  speaking  to  the  people,  His  mother  and  His  broth- 
ers, who  were  outside,  wanted  to  speak  to  Him.  Someone 
told  Him,  there  are  your  mother  and  your  brothers  stand- 
ing outside  who  want  to  speak  to  you.  But  He  answered 
the  one  who  had  told  Him  that.  Who  is  My  mother  and  who 
are  My  brothers?  And  stretching  His  hands  toward  His  dis- 
ciples, He  said,  here  is  My  mother  and  here  are  My  brothers. 
For  anyone  who  shall  do  My  Father's  will,  is  My  brother^  My 
sister,  My  mother.     (Matt.  12: 46-50;  Mark  3:  31-35.) 

"  If  it  is  such  a  holy  thing  to  worship  Mary  as  the  Roman 
Catholics  do  to  obey  their  Church,  how  is  it  that  Peter,  speak- 
ing of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  said:  *  He  is  the  stone  which 
has  been  rejected  by  you.'  He  is  that  principal  corner  stone 
which  you  have  rejected.  There  is  no  salvation  by  any  other 
one.  For,  under  heaven,  no  other  name  has  been  given 
through  which  man  can  be  saved. 

"  When  the  Holy  Ghost,  through  Peter,  tells  us  that  the  name 
of  Jesus  is  the  only  name  through  which  we  can  be  saved, 
what  right  has  the  Pope  to  tell  you  that  the  name  of  Mary 
must  be  invoked  to  be  saved." 

These  last  words  had  hardly  fallen  from  my  lips  when  the 


A   Narrow  Escape  I03 

wliole  assembly  was  convulsed  by  the  furious  cries,  "  Infamous 
apostate:  those  are  the  last  blasphemies  which  will  fall  from 
thy  cursed  lips!" 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  the  terror  and  the  confusion 
which  followed,  when  the  people  heard  these  threatening 
words  and  saw  the  muzzle  of  a  pistol  aimed  at  me  at  such  a 
short  distance,  that  it  nearly  touched  my  face." 

"My  God!  My  God!  Stop  him!  Stop  him!"  was  cried  from 
every  corner.  But  quick  as  lightning  the  would-be  murderer 
saw  the  muzzles  of  four  guns  so  near  his  face  that  some  of  them 
even  touched  his  skin;  he  heard  at  the  same  time  voices  tell- 
ing him,  "You  are  a  dead  man,  if  you  move  a  finger.  Let 
that  pistol  drop  from  your  hand  immediately,  or  your  brain 
will  be  scattered  to  the  four  winds."  These  words  were 
hardly  heard  by  the  would-be  murderer  when  the  pistol 
was  dropped  on  the  floor  and  putting  his  hands  to 
his  face,  he  cried  with  a  supplicating  voice,  "For  God's 
sake  do   not   kill   me!   O  My  God!   O  My  God  spare  me!" 

My  four  young,  brave  friends,  putting  their  hands  on  his 
collar  told  liira,  "  You  are  our  prisoner.  Here  is  a  magistrate 
who  has  been  the  witness  of  your  criminal  intention.  We 
deliver  you  into  his  hands  that  he  may  deal  with  you  accord- 
ing to  law." 

Trembling  from  head  to  feet,  the  young  criminal  answered: 
"For  God's  sake,  do  what  you  please  with  me,  but  spare  my 
life.  I  confess  that  I  am  guilty  of  a  great  crime  against  you, 
dear  Father  Chiniquy,  but  I  ask  your  pardon.  Do  not  get  me 
punished  as  I  deserve."  I  answered  him,  "  I  do  not  want 
you  to  be  punished  as  you  deserve.  But  you  cannot  find  fault 
with  us  if  we  ask  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  our  country  to 
save  our  lives." 

In  less  time  than  I  can  say  it,  by  the  order  of  the  magis- 
trate the  hands  of  the  young  criminal  were  tied,  and  he  was 
ordered  to  be  marched  to  the  common  jail  to  wait  for  the 
course  of  the  law  about  his  criminal  action. 

The  pistol  having  been  picked  up  by  the  magistrate,  it  was 


2Q4  Fortv   Years    in    the    Church   of  Christ 

found  that  it  cunlained  four  bullets  which  were  to  be  lodged 
in  my  breast,  if  my  merciful  God  had  not  protected  me  in 
Huch  a  visible  way. 

Of  course  the  indignation  of  the  crowd  knew  no  bounds,  and 
the  unfortunate  young  man  would  not  have  gone  back  with 
his  life,  if  I  had  not  i)leaded  for  mercy  and  stopped  the  arms 
of  those  who  thought  that  the  proceedings  of  the  law  were 
too  slow  for  such  a  visible  and  public  crime.  It  was  only 
through  exerting  my  influence  to  the  utmost  I  had  on  that 
multitude  that  I  prevented  a  deplorable  new  case  of  lynch 
law.  I  had  with  me  the  ninth  volume  of  the  Theological 
works  of  St.  Thomas.  I  opened  it  at  the  page  ninety  and  I 
read  them  the  following  words  of  that  author,  which  are 
notliing  but  the  expression  of  the  Church  of  Rome: 

"Though  heretics  do  not  deserve  to  be  tolerated  we  must 
wait  till  they  are  twice  admonished,  but  if  after  a  second  ad- 
monition they  refuse  to  repent  and  submit  to  the  Holy 
Church,  they  must  not  only  be  excommunicated,  but  they 
must  be  delivered  to  the  secular  power  to  be  extermi- 
nated."— St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  Vol.  4,  p.  90. 

After  reading  this  law  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  told  my 
dear  countrymen,  "It  is  not  against  that  unfortunate  young 
man  that  you  must  express  your  just  indignation  to=day,  it 
is  against  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  was  only  to  obey  his 
Church  and  follow  its  teachings  that  he  wanted  to  take  away 
my  life. 

"  I  know  on  good  authority  that  he  spent  the  greater  part  of 
yesterday  with  his  jpriest.  There  is  no  doubt  that  his  nerves 
were  strengthened  to  commit  that  crime,  even  at  the  risk  of 
his  life,  by  w^hat  he  heard  from  him.  He  was  told,  wliat  all 
the  priests  say  of  me,  that  I  am  a  monster,  unworthy  to  live, 
H  cursed  man,  condemned  to  hell  by  Almighty  God  as  well  as 
by  his  holy  Pope.  He  was  probably  promised  the  forgive- 
ness of  all  his  sins  if  he  would  put  an  end  to  my  life. 

"  Whenever  the  Church  of  Rome  has  the  power  to  do  it  she 
has  persecuted  the  Protestants  to  h  er  utmost  capacity.     She 


A  Narrow  Escape  205 

has  sent  them  to  jail,  she  has  confiscated  their  goods,  she  has 
sent  them  into  exile,  or  even  put  them  to  death.  Before  the 
conquest  of  Canada  by  the  English,  it  was  forbidden  to 
Protestants  to  live  in  that  country.  They  had  the  choice 
between  going  to  gaol  or  becoming  exiles,  if  they  per- 
sisted in  their  Gospel  religion.  In  France,  thousands  have 
lost  their  lives,  and  have  been  forced  to  go  and  die  in  exile 
for  becoming  Protestants.  In  a  single  night,  and  the  four 
or  five  months  after  the  St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  seventy = 
five  thousand  Protestants  were  slaughtered  in  France  by  the 
order  of  the  Pope. 

"  The  whole  night  would  not  be  long  enough  to  tell  you  the 
tortures,  the  persecutions,  the  slaughters  of  the  Protestants,  by 
the  order  of  the  Pope,  in  Italy,  France,  Spain,  England, 
Holland,  and  all  other  countries  where  the  Church  of  Rome 
was  strong  enough  to  execute  the  laws  of  blood  and  death  she 
had  passed  against  those  who  refused  to  worship  her  idols 
and  prostrate  themselves  at  the  feet  of  her  Pope  and  Bishops. 
You  have  seen  with  your  own  eyes,  this  very  evening,  one 
of  the  acts  engendered  by  the  bloody  and  cruel  laws  of 
Rome.  Is  it  your  desire  to  continue  to  belong  to  such  a 
church?" 

There  was  a  universal  cry:  "No.  We  do  not  wish  to  be 
any  longer  the  slaves  of  such  a  system  of  tyranny  and  in- 
tolerance." 

It  was  my  unspeakable  joy  to  see  the  whole  crowd  of  my 
dear  countrymen  give  up  the  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke  of 
the  Pope  in  order  to  accept  the  Gospel  of  Christ  for  their 
only  rule  of  faith. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

The  Assassination  of  Lincoln 

Several  years  ago  in  my  book  "  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church 
of  Rome,"  I  had  n  chapter  on  the  assassination  of  President 
Abraham  Lincohi.  I  charged  that  on  the  Jesuits,  which 
took  the  world  by  surprise.  Many  of  my  best  friends  thought 
that  that  was  the  weak  point  in  the  book.  They  thought 
that  it  was  hardly  possible  that  the  emissaries  of  Rome  should 
commit  such  a  horrible  crime.  The  Jesuits,  for  three  hundred 
years,  have  been  guilty  of  many  black  crimes;  but  it  was 
thought  that  to  charge  this  to  them  was  more  than  they 
deserved.  But  I  had  most  conclusive  evidence  of  the  truth 
of  what  I  alleged,  and  felt  confident  that  I  stood  on  solid 
ground.  I  did  not  arrive  at  my  conclusion  hastily,  and  was 
not  warped  by  my  hatred  of  the  papal  system  and  by  my  con- 
viction that  Jesuits  were  capable  of  anything,  according  to 
the  principle  that  the  end  justifies  the  means. 

There  is  no  man  living  who  has  had  so  good  an  opportu- 
nity of  knowing  Mr.  Lincoln,  under  most  trying  circum- 
stances, as  I  had.  There  was  no  man  who  had  taken  so  much 
pains  to  investigate  and  understand  the  real  circumstances 
and  facts  relating  to  his  murder.  I  procured  documentary 
proof  at  an  expense  of  $2,000,  which  I  have  now  in  my  pos- 
session, before  I  reached  a  positive  conclusion,  and  announced 
it  to  the  world. 

I  add  here  on  this  bloody  tragedy  a  few  considerations  to  be 
followed  by  a  statement  of  facts  brought  out  under  the  most 
searching  investigations  by  others,  all  of  which  go  to  con- 
firm the  truth  of  what  I  had  written  on  the  subject. 

At  the  time  of  the  murder  of  Lincoln  the  American  Repub- 

206 


The   Assassination  of  Lincoln  207 

lie  had  just  passed   through   the   most  terrible  civil  war  in 
the   world's  history.     Slavery  was  the  cause  of  the  conflict, 
which  held  in  its  grasp  a  vast  multitude  of  human  beings, 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  President  when  the  conflict  broke  out, 
and  to  its  end.     He  seemed  to  be  the  man  raised  up  by  provi- 
dence for  the  time  that  tried  men's  souls.     He  foresaw  with 
prophetic   eyes  that  slavery  must   come   to    an    end    if   the 
national  life  would  be  preserved.     After  waiting  for  some 
time  till  circumstances  became  favourable,  he  issued  the  proc- 
lamation   of    the  emancipation  of  4,000,000  human  beings 
from   slavery.     The   captives  thus   liberated   were   more    in 
number  than  had  ever  been  liberated  at  any  one  time  in  the 
history  of  the  world.     The  negroes  often  called  Lincoln  their 
Moses,  before  and  after  their  freedom.     On  the  first  of  Janu- 
ary, 1863,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  Union   forces  ap- 
pointed a  meeting  in  a  grove  on  old  Fort   Plantation,  Port 
Eoyal,  S.  C,  at  which  the  declaration  of  emancipation  would 
be   read.     There   was  quite  a  programme   marked  out,  but 
which  was  somewhat  interrupted  by  a  remarkable  incident. 
When  the  proclamation  was  read,  the  many  negroes  present 
suddenly  broke  out  singing  the  national  hymn:  "My  Country 
'tis  of  Thee;   Sweet  Land   of   Liberty."     That    hymn   they 
could  never  sing  before,  but  now  that  they  were  free  they 
sang  it  with  swelling  hearts;  but  how  they  learned  it  was 
unknown.     Their  hearts  thrilled  with  joy  at  the  thought  of 
being  free,  and  rose  in  gratitude  to  God.     In  their  joy  and 
gratitude  they  did  not  forget  Lincoln,  their  Moses,  who  led 
them  from  bondage  to  liberty. 

In  the  United  States,  slavery  was  a  controlling  power,  which 
was  confined  to  what  was  called  the  Southern  States.  The 
aim  was,  on  the  part  of  the  slaveholders,  to  make  slavery 
national,  and  to  extend  it  into  new  territories  which  would  be 
gradually  added  as  states.  They  saw  that  their  plans  were 
likely  to  be  thwarted  by  the  opposing  sentiment  in  the  free 
states.  They  determined  to  secede  from  the  Union  and  set 
up  a  nation  where  slavery  would  be  the  corner-stone. 


2o8  Fortv   Years    in    the   Church  of  Christ 

Several  of  the  leaders  of  the  conspiracy,  including  JefiFerson 
Davis,  were  officers  under  the  federal  government.  They 
were  thus  the  more  favourably  situated  to  frame  and  prepare 
to  carry  out  their  plans.  They  had  taken  the  oath  of  loyalty 
and  were  drawing  their  salaries  from  the  treasury  of  the 
United  States,  while  at  the  same  time  they  were  plotting  to 
break  up  the  nation.  Davis  and  other  conspirators,  while 
concocting  their  diabolical  conspiracy,  could  make  Union 
speeches  and  loud  professions  of  loyalty.  Davis  came  to 
Boston  and  spoke  in  Faneuil  Hall  at  a  union  meeting,  while 
at  the  same  time  he  came  on  from  Washington  for  the  pur- 
pose of  dismantling  forts  and  making  other  preparations  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  nefarious  plans. 

It  was  well  known  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  in 
sympathy  with  slavery  and  with  the  political  party  chiefly 
rej)resenting  it.  The  hierarchy  never  raised  its  voice  against 
the  system,  but  gave  it  their  countenance  and  practical 
support.  The  general  sympathy  between  the  Romanists  and 
the  rel)els  was  manifest,  and  the  slaveholders  knew  it,  and 
relied  much  on  that  fact  to  help  them  in  accomplishing  their 
object.  The  Democratic  party  of  the  country,  as  it  was  called, 
was  known  as  the  pro=slavery  party,  and  Roman  Catholics, 
mainly  through  the  influence  of  their  clergy,  were  almost  ex- 
clusively the  members  of  that  party.  Thus  Popery  and  the 
slave  system  by  aSinity  and  through  policy  became  allied. 
Any  professions  that  the  Roman  hierarchy  might  make  at  that 
time  of  course  were  not  sincere,  but  intended  tc  blind  peo- 
ple's eyes,  so  that  the  end  might  be  more  readily  gained. 
The  union  of  Popery  and  slavery  came  closer  as  tin'e  went  on 
and  the  rebellion  progressed. 

When  the  war  broke  out  Archbishop  Hughes  professed  to 
be  a  friend  of  the  Union.  President  Lincoln  thought  that  he 
might  render  valuable  service  abroad  in  favour  of  the  North, 
which  he  gave  assurance  he  would  render.  He  went  abroad, 
but  evidently  with  the  object  in  view  the  direct  opposite  to 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  209 

that  he  professed.  He  saw  the  Pope  and  we  know  what  soon 
after  followed.  The  Pope  addressed  a  letter  to  Davis,  couched 
in  the  most  friendly  and  endearing  terms.  This  was  in  fact 
a  recognition  of  the  slave^confederacy.  Let  it  be  remembered 
that  the  only  foreign  potentate  that  recognized  the  Confeder- 
acy with  Davis  at  its  head  was  the  Pope. 

Soon  after  this  the  Roman  Catholic  soldiers  of  the  Union 
army  began  to  desert  by  wholesale,  as  they  soon  learned  that 
the  voice  of  the  infallible  pontifif  must  be  regarded. 

In  the  document  received  from  the  pension  department, 
which  was  published  in  the  papers,  it  ajjpeared  that  there 
were  144,221  Irishmen  that  enlisted,  and  104,000  had  deserted, 
making  the  percentage  of  Irish  Roman  Catholics  who  de- 
serted during  the  war,  seventy4wo,  while  that  of  the  natives 
of  the  United  States  was  five  per  cent.,  and  of  Germans  ten 
per  cent.  "  This,"  as  a  prominent  living  writer  has  said,  "  is 
a  sufficient  basis  of  the  charge  heretofore  made,  that  a  good 
Roman  Catholic  can  be  loyal  only  to  the  Pope,  and  can  never 
be  loyal  to  our  government  and  to  our  institutions." 

Soon  after  the  visit  of  Archbishop  Hughes  to  the  Pope,  the 
terrible  riots  occurred  in  New  York,  when  it  became  necessary 
to  fill  up  the  ranks  which  had  become  thinned,  largely  through 
desertions.  The  rioters  were  made  up  of  Irish  Roman  Catho- 
lics, and  it  was  evident  that  they  were  acting  under  tlie  aus- 
pices of  their  chief  clergy.  For  three  days  and  nights  there 
was  a  reign  of  terror  right  under  the  shadow  of  the  palace  of 
Archbishop  Hughes.  It  was  evident  that  he  had  proved 
himself  a  traitor,  and  was  informed  by  President  Lincoln 
that  for  the  continuance  of  the  bloody  riot  he  would  be  held 
responsible.  He  then  became  concerned  for  his  own  safety. 
Then  he  broke  the  silence  and  gave  a  short  address  to  the 
mob,  calling  them  his  friends,  and  the  rioters  dispersed  and 
order  "was  restored.  Thus  it  was  evident  that  Hughes  was 
carrying  out  the  orders  of  the  Pope  and  was  at  the  bottom  of 
the  whole  trouble. 


2IO  Forty  Years   in   the   Church    of  Christ 

Before  I  speak  directly  in  regard  to  the  assassination  of 
Lincohi,  there  is  another  subject  to  which  I  must  invite  at- 
tention, pointing  in  the  same  direction. 

During  the  civil  war  in  the  American  Republic,  the  French 
Emperor  Napoleon  and  the  Pope  conceived  the  idea  that  dur- 
ing that  conflict  there  was  a  good  opportunity  to  establish  an 
empire  in  Mexico.  The  expectation  was  that  such  an  empire 
would  be  a  great  Roman  power  in  this  continent,  and  be  like- 
ly to  become  part  of  the  slave  and  Romish  nation  to  be  found- 
ed on  the  ruins  of  the  Republic  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
ultimate  control  of  North  America. 

Maximilian,  an  Austrian  prince,  came  over  to  found  an 
empire  in  Mexico.  He  came  over  directly  under  the  auspi- 
ces of  Napoleon  and  the  Pope.  He  and  his  wife  Carlota  went 
to  Rome  immediately  before  leaving  for  Mexico,  where  they 
had  an  audience  with  the  Holy  Father,  and  received  his 
blessing  to  help  and  give  them  success  in  their  undertaking. 
After  they  arrived  in  Mexico,  Maximilian  found  the  way  to 
the  dazzling  empire  before  his  mind  to  be  a  hard  road  to 
travel;  matters  were  going  against  him. 

Maximilian  seems  to  have  been  naturally  amiable,  and  not 
being  of  a  strong  mind  he  could  be  easily  influenced  and  con- 
trolled by  Napoleon  and  the  Pope  for  their  own  purpose.  The 
historian,  John  Lothrop  Motley,  who  at  that  time,  1863,  was 
the  American  ambassador  at  Vienna,  in  his  correspondence 
with  Dr.  O.  W.  Holmes  thus  wrote: 

"  There  is  no  glory  in  the  grass  nor  verdure  m  anything. 
In  fact,  we  have  nothing  green  here  but  Archduke  Maximil- 
ian, who  firmly  believes  that  he  is  going  forth  to  Mexico  to 
establish  an  American  Empire  and  that  it  is  his  Divine  mis- 
sion to  destroy  the  dragon  of  democracy  and  re=establish  the 
true  Church,  the  right  Divine,  and  all  sorts  of  games.  Poor 
young  man." 

Maximilian's  tastes  and  religious  notions  were  such  as 
might  be  exjjected  from  his  mother  and  his  priestly  advisors. 
Mr.  Motley  further  writes: 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  211 

"Maximilian  adores  bullfights,  rather  regrets  the  Inquisi- 
tion, and  considers  the  duke  of  Alva  everything  noble  and 
chivalrous  and  the  most  abused  of  men.  It  would  do  you 
good  to  hear  his  invocation  to  that  deeply  inspired  shade,  and 
his  denunciations  of  the  ignorant  and  vulgar  Protestants  who 
defeated  him.     You  can  imagine  the  rest." 

It  is  true  he  had  just  been  at  Rome  and  had  just  received 
the  papal  benediction.  Pius  IX.  felt  highly  gratified  with  the 
recognition  of  his  approbation  and  blessing  in  a  cause  which 
he  thought  would  result  in  much  for  the  holy  Church.  By 
"Divine  right  "he  could  originate  a  dynasty,  and  promise 
"perpetuity"  to  it,  and  "secure  to  it  the  blessing  of  heaven 
upon  his  enterprise." 

The  Pope  had  done  a  great  deal  of  blessing  and  cursing  in 
his  time;  but  the  results  showed  that  his  blessings  were 
worse  than  his  curses.  Such  was  the  results  in  this  case. 
Popes  have  been  very  successful  in  getting  people  into  trouble, 
but  never  did  much  to  get  them  out  of  it;  this  finds  a 
striking  illustration  in  the  case  of  Maximilian, 

The  time  had  now  come  for  the  United  States  to  take  a 
decided  stand.  On  the  seventh  of  March,  1864,  Mr.  Seward 
wrote  to  the  American  ambassador  at  Paris,  for  the  inform- 
ation of  the  French  government:  "A  resolution  passed  the 
House  of  Representatives  by  a  unanimous  vote,  which  de- 
clares the  opposition  of  that  body  to  a  recognition  of  a  mon- 
archy in  Mexico."  He  adds  in  his  letter  these  decisive  words: 
"  I  remain  now  firm  as  heretofore  in  the  opinion  that  the  des- 
tinies of  the  American  continent  are  not  to  be  permanently 
controlled  by  any  political  arrangement  that  can  be  made  in 
the  capitals  of  Europe." 

The  Confederate  States  looked  with  a  great  deal  of  interest 
on  the  French  intervention.  Napoleon  had  a  strong  desire 
to  recognize  the  Confederacy,  and  urged  the  British  goA^ern- 
ment  to  join  him  in  such  a  move.  Jefferson  Davis  said: 
"  Napoleon  was  anxious  to  go  beyond  this,  and  so  was  the 
Pope   of   Rome;  and  they  alone  entertained  those  views  on. 


212  Forty  Years  in   the    Church  ot  Christ 

that  question.  Napoleon's  efiPorts  looking  towards  the  break- 
ing of  our  blockatle  met  with  refusal  from  England,  the 
country  whose  artisans  were  the  chief  suJEferers  by  the  cotton 
famine."  The  letter  of  Mr.  Seward  representing  the  deter- 
mined position  of  the  United  States,  produced  a  weakening 
and  frightening  etfect  on  Napoleon. 

The  French  emperor  had  announced  that  he  would  with- 
draw his  troops  from  Mexico,  which,  with  other  drawbacks, 
made  the  cause  desperate  for  Maximilian.  Carlota  left  very 
suddenly  for  France  and  Rome  to  secure  help  in  the  trying 
circumstances.  When  she  arrived  in  Paris  and  visited  Na- 
poleon, she  met  with  a  cold  reception,  and  was  told  that  he 
could  do  nothing.  She  then  hastened  to  Rome  to  see  the 
Pope,  but  he  promised  no  practical  help,  and  she,  seeing 
that  ruin  was  inevitable,  became  suddenly  insane,  and  has 
remained  so. 

Maximilian,  as  a  last  resort,  after  the  surrender  of  Lee,  at- 
tempted to  strengthen  his  position  by  offering  large  induce- 
ments to  the  Southern  rebel  leaders  to  colonize  Mexico,  and 
join  him.  The  idea  struck  very  favourably  many  of  the  con- 
federates. It  was  noticeable  how  readily  they  could  become 
the  adherents  and  champions  of  monarchy  and  the  Pope. 
Maximilian  utterly  failed  in  his  enterprise,  and  was  executed 
by  being  shot. 

It  was  as  evident  as  anything  could  be  that  a  gigantic  con- 
spiracy had  been  formed  for  the  destruction  of  the  American 
Republic,  the  two  chief  movers  of  which  were  Jefferson 
Davis  and  the  Pope.  As  that  had  thus  far  been  an  evident 
failure,  it  was  concluded  to  take  the  most  desperate  measures 
to  accomplish  the  end.  It  was  decided  to  strike  directly  at 
the  head  of  the  government,  the  President  to  be  put  out  of 
the  way,  and  the  other  chief  othcers  to  be  assassinated,  so 
that  everything  would  be  in  confusion;  none  at  the  head  of 
the  government  and  the  army,  and  the  way  blocked  for  a 
new  election.  Then  the  conspirators  would  step  in  and  have 
their  way,  and  Davis  and  the  Pope  rejoice. 


The  Assassination  ot  Lincoln  213 

In  my  "  Fifty  Years  "  I  gave  au  extended  statement  of 
facts  in  regard  to  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  In 
that  work  I  stated  that  I  had  warned  Mr.  Lincoln  long  before 
the  assassination  that  such  an  event  was  likely  to  take  place, 
and  to  be  on  his  guard.  The  conspirators,  including  Booth 
and  John  Surratt,  were  accustomed  to  meet  at  the  house  of 
Mary  Surratt,  in  Washington.  Romish  priests  were  frequent 
visitors  there.  Those  who  met  there  were  known  as  enemies 
of  the  government,  and  rebels.  The  assassination  had  been 
announced  some  hours  before  it  actually  occurred,  in  a  town 
in  a  distant  state,  showing  that  the  plot  was  known  among 
certain  Romanists  beforehand.  John  Surratt  was  specially 
looked  after  and  harboured  by  the  priests  while  a  fugitive 
from  justice. 

After  I  had  published  to  the  world  my  account  of  the  as- 
sassination of  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  full  history  of  it  was  pub- 
lished, written  by  General  T.  M.  Harris,  who  had  been  a 
member  of  the  military  commission,  before  which  Mary 
Surratt  had  been  tried  and  convicted.  Through  a  certain 
chain  of  circumstances  this  gentleman  had  been  led  to  write 
a  full  history  of  that  event. 

There  is  no  man  in  America  who  has  so  extensively  inves- 
tigated the  subject  as  he.  He  availed  himself  of  all  the 
sources  of  information  within  his  reach.  His  work  is  a  vol- 
ume of  over  400  pages.  It  is  a  perfect  Gibraltar,  and  the 
Romanists  have  not  attempted  to  challenge  its  statements. 
Since  the  publication  of  that  work,  Gen.  Harris  prepared  a 
smaller  book  bearing  the  title,  "Rome's  Responsibility  for  the 
Assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln." 

I  have  held  an  extensive  correspondence  with  the  author 
while  preparing  his  books,  and  I  found  that  there  was  a  com- 
plete agreement  between  him  and  myself  on  the  subject.  His 
investigations  and  their  results  go  to  confirm  what  I  wrote  in 
my  "Fifty  Years."  I  quote  extensively  from  his  books,  which 
I  feel  assured  my  readers  will  appreciate  not  only  for  the  in- 
formation, but  as  confirming  what  I  had  previously  published 


214  Forty  Years   in   the    Church   of  Christ 

on  the  subject,  and  the  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  terrible 
charj^e  which  I  first  publicly  made  amounts  to  an  absolute 
demonstration. 

I  now  proceed  to  quote  from  the  writings  of  Gen.  Harris: 

"  It  is  my  purpose  now  to  review  the  facts  connected  with 
the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  and  the  attempted 
assassination  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  the  purpose  to  assassinate 
Vice-President  Johnson,  Secretary  Stanton  and  General 
Grant.  The  object  of  this  scheme  of  wholesale  assassination 
of  the  civil  and  military  heads  of  the  government,  was  to 
throw  the  country  into  a  state  of  chaos,  and  thus  retrieve  the 
fast  failing  fortunes  of  the  Confederacy.  These  facts,  as  de- 
veloped on  the  trials  of  the  conspirators  before  a  military 
commission,  and  on  the  trial  of  John  H.  Surratt  two  years 
later,  before  a  civil  court,  together  with  evidence  secured  by 
Father  Chiniquy,  and  given  to  the  world  in  his  book,  '  Fifty 
Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome,'  show  conclusively  the  hand 
of  Rome  in  this  stab  at  our  nation's  life.  I  will  now  proceed 
to  pass  these  facts  in  review,  in  their  proper  order,  and  to 
show  their  significance. 

"  We  will  take  as  our  starting  point  the  fact,  well  estab- 
lished, that  the  headquarters  of  the  conspiracy  in  Washing- 
ton City  was  the  house  of  a  Roman  Catholic  family  of  which 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt  was  the  head;  and  that  all  of  its  in- 
mates, including  a  number  of  boarders,  were  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  This  house  was  the 
meeting  place,  the  council  chamber  of  Booth  and  his  co=con- 
spirators,  including  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt  and  her  son,  John 
H.  Surratt,  who,  next  to  Booth,  were  the  most  active  members 
of  the  conspiracy  in  the  preparation  of  the  execution  of  the 
plot. 

"  Booth,  the  ring-leader,  was  born  and  reared  a  Protestant. 
He  was  only  a  nominal  Protestant,  however. 

"  He  was  a  man  of  the  world,  a  drunkard  and  a  libertine, 
and  utterly  indifferent  to  matters  of  religion. 

"That,  under  the  influence  of  his  associations  in  the  con- 


The  Assassination   of  Lincoln  215 

spiracy  plot,  he  had  become  a  pervert  to  Catholicism,  was 
shown,  however,  by  the  fact  that  on  the  examination  of  his  per- 
son after  his  death  it  was  found  that  he  was  wearing  a  Catho- 
lic medal  under  his  vest  and  over  his  heart. 

"  The  wily  Jesuit,  sympathizing  with  him  in  his  political 
views,  and  in  the  hope  of  destroying  our  government,  and 
establishing  the  Confederacy,  which  had  already  received  the 
Poije's  recognition  and  expressions  of  good  will  and  sym- 
pathy conferred  upon  it,  had  been  able  to  pervert  him  to 
Catholicism,  and  to  deceive  him  into  the  belief  that  this 
medal  would  conduce  to  his  jDersonal  safety,  and  to  the  suc- 
cess of  his  enterprise.  He  had,  no  doubt,  been  baj)tized  into 
the  Catholic  Church.  This  medal  at  once  marked  and  identi- 
fied him  as  a  pervert  to  Catholicism. 

"  Now  we  have  Mary  E.  Surratt,  John  H.  Surratt,  J.  Wilkes 
Booth,  Dr.  Samuel  Mudd,  and  Michael  O'Laughlin,  five  of 
the  leading  spirits  in  the  execution  of  the  plot  to  assassinate, 
belonging  to  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church. 

"  My  impression  is  that  Herold  and  Spangler  were  also 
members  or  adherents  to  that  church.  Be  this  as  it  may, 
they,  together  with  Atzerot  and  Payne,  were  the  mere  tools 
and  hired  agents  of  Booth  and  Surratt,  and  so  stood  ready  to 
serve  their  purpose;  and  so  it  boots  not  to  inquire  into  their 
faith  or  want  of  faith. 

"  Our  inquiry  then,  thus  far,  has  established  the  fact  that 
five  of  the  conspirators  were  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  and  that  these  five  were  its  leaders,  to  whom  the 
execution  of  the  plot  had  been  confided.  We  have  also  seen 
that  their  meeting  place,  or  council  chamber,  in  Washington, 
whilst  engaged  in  perfecting  their  arrangements  for  the  as- 
sassinations that  had  been  determined  upon,  was  the  dwell- 
ing place  and  under  the  control  of  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt  and 
John  H.  Surratt,  her  son,  both  of  whom  were  zealous  slaves 
of  the  Pope,  and  clearly  proven,  by  the  evidence  given  before 
the  commission  and  by  that  given  two  years  later,  on  the 
trial  of  John  H.  Surratt  in  the  civil  court,  to  have  been  lead- 


ai6  Forty   Years   in   the  Church  of  Christ 

ing  and  active  members  of  the  conspiracy.  Mrs.  Surratt  was 
a  faithful  and  diligent  attendant  upon  church  services;  and, 
from  the  evidence  given  by  three  or  four  priests  in  her  behalf 
before  the  commission,  she  had  established,  in  their  estima- 
tion, a  high  character  for  devotion  and  Christian  piety. 

"  It  was  a  noteworthy  fact,  however,  that  of  all  these  priestly 
witnesses  but  one  of  them  admitted  that  he  had  been  on 
specially  intimate  terms  with  her  during  the  five  months  in 
which  the  plans  and  preparations  for  the  assassinations  were 
being  made. 

"  Most  of  them  had  been  acquainted  with  her  for  many 
years,  and  seemed  to  be  well  acquainted  with  her  church 
reputation,  but  they  had  only  seen  her  casually  during  these 
latter  months.  One  of  these,  Father  Wiget,  was  noted  for  his 
disloyalty,  and  could  hardly  been  supposed  to  have  spent  many 
hours  with  her,  at  different  times,  without  having  heard  her 
express  her  views  in  relation  to  the  one  all-absorbing  topic  of 
the  time,  that  was  uppermost  in  the  mind  of  all,  and  formed 
the  chief  topic  of  conversation.  He  could  only  say  that  he 
did  not  remember  having  heard  her  utter  a  loyal  sentiment 
since  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion;  nor  could  he  remember 
having  heard  any  one  speak  of  her  as  notoriously  disloyal, 
until  since  her  arrest.  He  said  he  had  become  acquainted 
with  her  through  having  had  the  care  of  two  of  her  sons  as 
his  ijupils;  one  of  these  was  serving  in  the  rebel  army,  and  the 
other,  John  H.  Surratt,  had  been  a  rebel  emissary  and  spy  for 
three  years,  passing  back  and  forth  between  Washington  and 
Richmond,  and  from  Richmond  to  Canada  and  back,  as  a 
bearer  of  dispatches,  and  yet  the  Jesuitical  priest  endeavoured 
so  to  shape  his  testimony  as  to  leave  the  impression  that  the 
tojpics  of  conversation  between  himself  and  Mrs.  Surratt. 
whilst  all  this  was  going  on,  and  much  more,  was  confined  to 
such  topics  as  the  state  of  her  health,  the  weather,  etc.  He 
was  very  positive  as  to  her  good  Christian  character,  which  he 
had  been  summoned  to  prove,  but  had  very  little  recollection 
of  anything  else. 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  217 

"  Father  Boyle,  resident  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  Washington 
City,  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Surratt  eight  or 
nine  years  previously,  but  had  only  met  her  three  or  four 
times  since.  He  had  always  heard  her  well  spoken  of;  never 
had  heard  anything  to  her  disadvantage;  had  never  heard  her 
utter  any  disloyal  sentiments. 

"  Father  Stonestreet,  pastor  of  St.  Aloysius  Church,  Wash- 
ington City,  had  made  her  acquaintance  twenty  years  before; 
had  only  occasionally  seen  her  since;  had  scarcely  seen  her 
at  all  during  the  last  year  or  two;  had  always  looked  upon  her 
as  a  proper  Christian  matron.  At  the  time  of  his  acquaint- 
ance with  her  (which  he  was  locating  twenty  years  back), 
there  was  no  question  of  her  loyalty.  Replying  to  a  question 
by  the  Judge  advocate:  He  did  not  remember  having  seen 
her,  though  he  might  have  done  so  transiently,  since  the  com- 
mencement of  the  rebellion ;  and  knew  nothing  of  her  charac- 
ter for  loyalty,  only  what  he  had  seen  in  the  papers. 

"Father  Lanihan,  a  Catholic  priest  living  near  Beantown, 
in  Maryland,  testified  that  he  had  been  acquainted  with  Mrs. 
Surratt  for  about  thirteen  years;  intimately  for  about  nine 
years;  that  he  had  been  very  familiar  with  her,  staying  at  her 
house.  He  regarded  her  as  a  good  Christian  woman,  highly 
honourable;  he  had  frequently  talked  with  her  about  current 
events  and  public  affairs,  since  the  rebellion,  but  could  not 
remember  ever  having  heard  her  express  any  disloyal  senti- 
ments; neither  had  he  heard  her  reputation  for  loyalty 
spoken  of. 

"  Finally,  Father  Young,  of  St.  Dominick's  Church  on 
Sixth  Street,  Washington  City,  was  called  in  her  behalf;  he 
had  been  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Surratt  about  eight  or  ten 
years,  but  not  intimately;  he  had  occasionally  seen  her,  and 
visited  her;  passed  her  house  about  once  a  month,  and  gen- 
erally'called  there,  staying  sometimes  an  hour.  He,  like  the 
the  others,  was  a  good  witness  for  her  as  to  her  character,  but 
could  say  nothing  as  to  her  loyalty,  or  disloyalty;  he  had 
never  heard  her  speak  as  to  current  events  one  way  or  another. 


21 8  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

How  can  vre  credit,  the  testimony  of  this  witness?  Is  it  credi. 
ble  that  he  could  have  spent  an  hour  in  conversation  with  a 
rebel  woman  of  such  positive  character  and  convictions,  once 
a  month,  during  the  heat  of  the  conflict,  and  yet  never  have 
heard  any  expressions  from  her  on  the  subjects  that  filled  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  all,  and  formed  the  chief  toj)ics  of  con- 
versation, in  all  classes  of  society?  Such  silence  between  a 
rebel  woman  and  a  rebel  priest,  who  were  on  intimate  and 
confidential  terms,  is  too  incredible  to  be  believed.  We  can- 
not help  thinking  that  all  these  holy  or  unholy  fathers  testi- 
fied under  the  understood  mental  reservations  of  the  Jesuits. 
Father  Wiget  was,  as  we  have  said,  her  pastor,  and  so,  we  take 
it,  was  her  confessor.  We  cannot  think  it  at  all  probable  that 
she  would  have  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  fraught  with  so 
much  danger  to  her,  and  such  grave  consequences  hereafter, 
without  having  confided  to  him  her  terrible  secret;  nor  with- 
out his  approval.  It  certainly  is  rather  strange  that  she 
should  have  broken  her  relations  with  him  after  her  convic- 
tion, and  taken  Father  Walter  for  her  confessor  and  spiritual 
guide  in  her  preparation  for  death. 

"  There  must  have  been  some  grave  reasons  for  this  change; 
and  it  was  made  for  her,  by  these  Jesuit  priests,  for  some 
very  important  reasons.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  at  such  a 
time,  and  under  such  solemn  circumstances,  she  would  have 
made  this  change  from  her  pastor  to  another  priest  with  whom 
she  had  not  had  any  previous  acquaintance  of  her  own  vo- 
lition. Had  she  been  innocent,  her  trusted  pastor  would 
have  been  the  one  to  whom  she  would  naturally  have  looked 
for  consolation.  But  Wiget  had  no  doubt  told  her  that  she 
would  incur  no  guilt  in  aiding  the  conspiracy,  and  so  to 
Walter  she  could  declare  her  innocence,  having  the  faith  of 
a  Catholic  in  Wiget's  power  to  grant  her  this  dispensation. 
Father  Walter  could  say  'that  whilst  his  priestly  vows 
would  not  allow  him  to  reveal  the  secrets  of  the  con- 
fessional, he  could  say,  that  from  what  there  came  to  his 
knowledge,  he  knew  her  to  be  an  innocent  woman.'     There 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  219 

was  to  be  a  great  effort  made  to  get  a  commutation,  or  reversal 
of  her  sentence;  and  the  strong  plea  of  the  Father  was  to  be 
based  on  this  assertion  of  her  innocence.  Failing  in  this, 
Father  Walter  for  thirty  years  persisted  in  his  efforts  to  fix 
upon  the  government  the  stigma  of  having  murdered  an  in- 
nocent woman. 

"In  its  uniting  with  Father  Walter  to  fix  upon  our  govern- 
ment the  stigma  of  a  great  crime,  to  its  eternal  disgrace,  the 
Roman  Catholic  hierarchy  assumed,  with  him,  the  responsi- 
bility of  perverting  the  welhestablished  truths  of  history,  and 
of  thus  manifesting  their  hatred  of  our  government,  and  their 
chagrin  and  bitter  disappointment  at  the  failure  of  their  ef- 
forts for  its  overthrow. 

"  So  deep  and  bitter  was  their  disappointment  at  the  sig- 
nal success  of  the  government  in  the  vindication  of  its  au- 
thority and  its  right  to  exist,  that,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century* 
it  never  ceased  its  efforts  to  fix  upon  it  the  stigma  of  this 
alleged  crime,  and  it  was  only  stopped  from  this  effort  by 
the  publication  of  my  "  History  of  the  Great  Conspiracy"  to 
overthrow  our  government  by  a  series  of  assassinations,  when, 
fearing  that  its  further  agitation  might  tend  to  give  publicity 
to  my  book,  and  that  thus  the  facts  of  this  conspiracy  would 
become  more  widely  known  and  the  truth  of  history  vindi- 
cated, that  the  agitation  of  this  charge  and  contention  against 
the  government  were  dropped  as  if  it  had  become  a  hot  potato. 
We  must  not  forget  that,  in  all  this  they  acted  under  a  full 
knowledge  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case.  These  had  been  fully 
displayed  to  the  world  through  the  evidence  produced  by  the 
government  on  the  trial  of  the  assassins  in  1865,  and  two 
years  later,  still  more  fully,  on  a  trial  of  John  H.  Surratt  in  a 
civil  court.  These  things  were  not  done  in  a  corner  but  openly 
before  the  world.  Their  sympathy  with  the  conspirators  and 
assassins,  and  their  enmity  toward  the  government,  were  thus 
openly  proclaimed  before  the  world;  and  the  attitude  of  the 
hierarchy  toward  the  assassination  of  the  nation's  head  was 
made  clearly  manifest.     It  is  Abraham  Lincoln,  it  is  true. 


220  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

that  was  slain,  but  it  was  the  life  of  the  nation  that  the  blow 
was  aimed  at.  The  scheme  to  aid  the  rebellion  by  the  assas- 
sination of  the  President,  the  Vice-President,  the  Secretary 
of  State,  and  Secretary  of  War,  and  the  General  in  command 
of  our  armies,  was  concocted  by  the  emissaries  of  the  rebel 
government,  who  kept  their  headquarters  in  M(jntreal,  Canada. 
These  emissaries  held  a  semi  official  relation  to  the  Confed- 
erate government.  The  whole  run  of  the  evidence  makes  it 
clear  that  the  Roman  hierarchy  kept  itself  in  close  relation  with 
these  emissaries;  and  it  is  highly  probable,  from  a  considera. 
tion  of  all  the  facts,  with  the  head  of  the  government  in  whose 
service  they  were  employed  also.  It  kept  itself  in  these  close 
relations  for  a  purpose,  and  was  most  likely  the  original 
source  of  the  inspiration  of  the  assassination  plot.  These 
rebel  emissaries  were  Jacob  Thompson,  of  Mississippi, 
Clement  C.  Clay,  of  Alabama,  and  Beverly  Tucker,  of  Vir^ 
ginia.  These  had  associated  with  them,  as  helpers,  George  N. 
Sanders,  Dr.  Blackburn,  and  others;  men  who  preferred  to 
fight  in  the  field  of  political  strategy  rather  than  on  the  field 
of  battle. 

"These  agents  of  the  rebel  government  entered  into  a  con- 
tract with  J.  Wilkes  Booth  and  John  H.  Surratt  to  carry  out 
their  scheme,  and  also  aided  them  in  the  selection  of  their 
subordinates.  Whether  these  emissaries  were  Protestants  or 
Catholics,  I  am  not  informed.  My  impression,  however,  is 
that  they  were  nominally  Protestants.  They  were  all,  how- 
ever, wicked  men,  evidently  accepting  the  maxim  that,  'all 
is  fair  in  war,'  and  having  no  conscientious  scruples  as  to  the 
means  that  they  employed  to  give  aid  to  their  cause.  That 
the  Jesuits  had  their  ear,  and  aided  them  with  their  sugges- 
tions, is  made  probable  by  the  fact,  that  in  his  efforts  to  enlist 
as  a  helper  to  Booth  and  Surratt,  a  young  man  who  was  sent 
before  the  commisson  as  a  witness  on  the  trial,  Thompson 
used  the  Jesuitical  argument,  that  to  kill  a  tyrant  was  no 
murder;  and   so,   assuming   that    President   Lincoln   was   a 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  221 

tyrant,  it  would  be  a  glorious  and  praiseworthy  act  to  take 
him  off. 

"  That  the  assassination  plot  was  known  to  the  Bishop  of 
Montreal  (Bourget)  and  a  number  of  his  priests  before  its 
accomplishment,  and  received  their  sanction,  was  made  plain 
by  their  subsequent  conduct.  As  soon  as  the  assassination 
of  the  President  was  flashed  over  the  wires,  Fathers  Boucher 
and  La  Pierre  kept  themselves  on  the  lookout,  and  ready  to 
help  any  of  the  conspirators  who  might  make  good  their 
escape  to  Canada,  John  H.  Surratt  and  a  companion,  whose 
identity  was  never  discovered,  returned  to  Montreal  on  the 
early  afternoon  of  the  18th  of  April,  the  fourth  after  the 
assassination.  The  unknown  conspirator  then  sank  out  of 
sight.  Surratt  was  spirited  away  from  the  hotel  within 
fifteen  minutes  after  he  had  registered,  on  his  return.  He 
had  registered  on  the  same  book  on  his  return  from  Rich- 
mond to  Canada,  on  the  6th  of  April,  had  gone  back  to  Wash- 
ington and  played  his  part  in  the  conspiracy  on  the  night  of 
the  14th  of  April,  and  now,  on  the  18th,  had  gotten  back  to 
Montreal,  and  was  so  carefully  watched  for,  that  almost  at 
the  instant  of  his  arrival  he  was  spirited  away  and  kept 
hidden  carefully  in  the  house  of  Porterfield,  one  of  Thomp- 
son's assistants,  who,  for  his  greater  security,  had  relinquished 
his  American  citizenship  and  had  taken  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  British  crown.  Porterfield  told  him  that  the 
detectives  were  on  the  alert,  and  lost  no  time  in  hiding  him 
away. 

"  Porterfield,  deeply  exercised  for  the  safety  of  his  charge, 
as  also  for  his  own,  only  kept  him  until  he  could  communi- 
cate with  Father  Boucher,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  who 
lived  in  an  out  of  the  way  country  parish,  forty=five  miles 
from  Montreal.  Father  Boucher  immediately  sent  his  serv- 
ant to  bring  Surratt  to  his  place  for  further  hiding.  Du  Tilly, 
Father  Boucher's  man,  arrived  before  the  house  of  Porter- 
field late   in  the  evening   of   the  21st   of  April,  and,  taking 


222  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

Surratt  into  his  carriage,  drove  him  away  under  tlie  cover  of 
darkness,  and  placed  him  in  the  keeping  of  his  master.  Fa- 
ther Boucher.  Here  he  remained  for  two  months,  under  the 
most  careful  watch  and  guide  of  his  keeper.  Whilst  here  he 
was  fre(iuently  visited  by  some  of  his  friends  in  whose  em- 
ploy he  had  incurred  his  guilt;  and  by  another  Father, 
La  Pierre.  This  La  Pierre  was  canon  to  Bishop  Bourget,  ate 
at  his  table,  and  was  the  same  to  him  as  a  hand  and  arm, 

"  A  circumstance  having  occurred  that  made  it  necessary  for 
Father  Boucher  to  unload  his  charge,  he  sent  him  back  to 
Montreal,  as  secretly  as  he  had  taken  him  away  from  there, 
and  placed  him  in  the  care  of  Father  La  Pierre. 

"  This  Father  provided  Surratt  with  an  upstairs  chamber  in 
his  own  father's  house,  right  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Bishop's  palace.  Here  he  kept  him  for  three  months,  never 
permitting  him  to  leave  his  room  in  the  day  time,  and  never 
at  night  but  in  company  with  himself  and  in  disguise.  Thus 
was  Surratt  kept  hidden  away  for  five  months,  in  the  care 
and  in  the  charge  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church;  two  of  its 
priests  keeping  watch  and  ward  over  him,  with  a  full  knowl- 
edge of  his  crime,  thus  making  themselves  accomplices,  after 
the  fact,  as  they  also  no  doubt  were  before  its  accomplish- 
ment. But  how  about  Bishop  Bourget?  He  stands  behind 
the  scenes,  it  is  true,  but  was  he  not  equally  guilty?  The 
organization  of  the  hierarchy  is  a  complete  military  despot- 
ism, of  which  the  Pope  is  the  ostensible  head;  but  of  which 
the  Black  Pope  is  the  real  head.  The  Black  Pope  is  the 
head  of  the  order  of  the  Jesuits,  and  is  called  the  general. 
He  not  only  has  the  absolute  command  of  his  own  order,  but 
directs  and  controls  the  general  policy  of  the  church.  He  is 
the  power  behind  the  throne,  and  is  the  real  i)otential  head  of 
the  hierarchy.  The  whole  machine  is  under  the  strictest 
rules  of  military  discipline.  The  whole  thought  and  will  of 
this  machine — to  islan,  propose  and  execute — is  found  in  its 
head.  There  is  no  independence  of  thought,  or  of  action,  in 
its   subordinate    parts.     Implicit  and  unquestioning   obedi- 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  223 

ence  to  the  orders  of  superiors  in  authority  is  the  sworn 
duty  of  the  priesthood  of  every  grade,  just  as  it  is  the  duty 
of  officers  in  the  army;  and  as  much  the  duty  of  the  laity  to 
their  priest  as  it  is  of  the  rank  and  file  in  an  army  to  their 
immediate  commanders.  There  is  a  complete  chain  of  re- 
sponsibility, extending  from  the  head  all  the  way  down  to 
the  membership.  Thus  the  whole  vast  organization  can  be 
wielded,  as  a  unit,  to  accomplish  the  plans  and  purposes  of 
its  head.  The  priest  is  virtually  an  intellectual  slave  to  his 
bishop,  the  bishop  to  his  arch=bishop,  and  these  again  to  the 
cardinals,  and  all  finally,  to  the  Popes,  white  and  black. 
This  being  the  case,  it  is  clear  that  no  priest  would  have 
dared  to  take  on  himself  such  grave  responsibilities  as  did 
Fathers  Boucher  and  La  Pierre,  involving  so  much  danger  to 
themselves,  as  also  to  the  character  of  their  church,  without 
the  knowledge  and  assent  of  their  Bishop.  It  would  have 
been  held  to  be  an  act  of  insubordination,  fraught  with  the 
most  serious  consequences  to  themselves.  But  the  canon 
occupies  a  peculiar  relation  to  his  bishop,  and  is  supposed  to 
have  no  other  duty  but  to  carry  out  the  order  which  he 
receives  from  his  superior.  In  this  view  of  the  case,  which 
represents  truly  the  relations  between  Bishop  Bourget  and 
his  canon,  La  Pierre,  can  we  rationally  come  to  any  other 
conclusion  than  that  Bourget  was,  in  a  moral  point  of  view, 
also  a  member  of  the  conspiracy  ?  Neither  would  Bishop  Bour- 
get have  dared  to  give  his  consent  to  this  crime  on  his  own 
independent  responsibility.  He  knew  he  was  acting  in  har- 
mony with  the  desire  and  purpose  of  the  hierarchy  for  the 
destruction  of  our  government. 

"  The  Jesuits  plan  with  the  utmost  art  and  cunning,  un- 
hampered by  any  moral  restraints,  and  always  with  the  utmost 
secrecy;  and  carry  out  their  plans  in  the  dark.  We  think, 
however,  that  in  this  case  we  have  succeeded  in  tracing  the 
Jesuit  through  all  the  devious  wanderings  of  his  dark  and 
slimy  path,  and  in  fixing  upon  him  the  responsibility  for  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln. 


2  24  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

"But  we  are  not  done  yet.  In  the  early  part  of  September, 
1865,  these  unholy  fathers  thought  it  safe  to  unload  their 
charge  to  their  brethren  in  England;  and  so  made  arrange- 
ments for  sending  Surratt  across  the  Atlantic,  under  an  as- 
sumed name,  and  in  disguise. 

"For  this  purpose  they  arranged  for  his  passage  on  a  British 
steamer,  the  Peruvian,  which  was  to  sail  from  Quebec  on  the 
16th  of  September,  1865. 

"A  physician  with  whom  Boucher  was  well  acquainted,  by 
the  name  of  McMillan,  had  just  gotten  the  jiosition  of  surgeon 
to  this  vessel,  and  they  arranged  with  him  to  take  under  his 
especial  charge  a  man  by  the  name  of  McCarthy,  who  for 
certain  reasons  wished  to  cross  the  Atlantic  under  an  as- 
sumed name  and  in  the  most  secret  manner.  The  day  before 
the  Peruvian  was  to  sail  from  Quebec  these  two  unholy 
Fathers  conveyed  Surratt  in  a  covered  carriage  to  the  steamer 
that  was  to  carry  passengers  for  the  Peruvian  from  Montreal 
to  Quebec.  They  had  disguised  Surratt  by  colouring  his  hair, 
painting  his  face,  and  by  putting  spectacles  over  his  eyes. 
Father  La  Pierre  went  also  in  disguise  of  a  citizen's  dress. 
Arriving  on  board  the  steamer,  Surratt  was  immediately 
stored  away  in  a  stateroom,  from  which  he  did  not  emerge 
during  the  voyage;  La  Pierre  remaining  in  his  room  with 
him.  Reaching  Quebec,  these  two  uidioly  fathers  placed 
their  charge  in  the  care  of  Dr.  McMillan,  and  then  took  their 
final  leave  of  him. 

"They  had  confided  him  to  the  care  of  their  friends  in 
Liverpool  by  the  hands  of  Dr.  McMillan,  and  through  whose 
aid  Surratt  succeeded  in  placing  himself  under  the  care  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  a  foreign  land.  Rome  is 
everywhere,  and  always  the  same,  and  he  can  feel  safe  as  long 
as  he  is  in  the  custody  of  the  church.  Here  he  waited  for 
the  Peruvian  to  make  another  voyage  and  return.  He  sent 
by  the  surgeon,  to  his  rebel  employers  in  Canada,  a  request 
to  send  him  some  money,  but  only  to  receive  the  answer  that 
they  had  no  money  for  hira.     The  expense  of  sending  him 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  225 

across  the  continent  to  Italy  thus  fell  on  the  Church.  His 
rebel  friends  had  now  forsaken  him,  but  his  Church  stood  by 
him.  He  was  sent  to  Italy,  and  was  mustered  into  the 
army  of  the  Pope.  Here  he  remained  safely  hidden  away 
for  a  year  or  more,  but  was  finally  discovered  by  a  government 
detective  who  had  been  sent  in  search  of  him,  and  who  went 
voluntarily,  hoping  to  get  the  offered  reward,  and  who  had 
enlisted  in  the  same  company  to  which  Surratt  belonged. 
This  detective  informed  our  government  of  his  discovery, 
and  through  the  agents  of  our  government  the  Pope  was  in- 
formed that  his  soldier,  who  had  enlisted  under  the  name  of 
Watson,  was  none  other  than  the  notorious  John  B.  Sur- 
ratt, who  was  a  member  of  the  conspiracy  that  accomplished 
the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln. 

"  With  a  shrewd  show  of  virtuous  innocence,  the  Pope  has- 
tened to  clear  his  skirts,  and  those  of  his  underlings,  by  or- 
dering his  arrest  and  rendition  to  our  government,  without 
waiting  for  its  requisition.  He  was  arrested  by  the  Pope's 
authority,  but  was  allowed  to  escape  by  his  guards,  and  thus 
given  another  chance  for  life  and  liberty. 

"  The  story  was  that  he  made  his  escape  by  a  bold  leap  over 
a  precipice,  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  '  Tell  this  to  the  marines; 
the  old  sailors  will  not  believe  it.'  He  was  finally  captured 
at  Alexandria,  Egypt,  and  was  brought  home  in  chains, 
where  he  was  held  to  answer  for  his  crime. 

"  Let  us  here  pause  for  a  moment  to  consider  the  relations 
of  the  heirarchy  to  this  crime.  The  testimony  given  on  the 
trial  of  John  H.  Surratt  clearly  convicts  two  of  its  priests, 
Boucher  and  La  Pierre,  of  being  accomplices  in  the  con- 
spiracy; and,  by  implication,  as  clearly  convicts  the  Bishop 
of  Montreal,  Bishop  Bourget.  This  testimony  was  spread 
before  the  world,  and  so  must  have  been  known  to  the  So- 
man Catholic  hierarchy,  yet  it  never  called  any  of  these 
priests  to  accountability,  or  held  them  responsible  for  this 
crime— the  crime  of  the  ages.  No  one  of  them  was  ever 
held  to  have  forfeited  his  standing  or  good  character  in  the 


226  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

Church  on  account  of  his  connection  with  this  conspiracy, 
and  so  the  hierarchy  stands  before  the  world  to  day  as  having 
given  its  approval  to  their  conduct  in  this  matter. 

"We  now  come  to  the  trial  of  John  B.  Surratt,  before  a 
civil  court.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  go  into  a  general  re- 
view of  the  trial,  but  only  to  show  the  interest  taken  in  it 
by  the  Koman  Catholic  priesthood;  the  animus  of  the  de- 
fense toward  the  government;  and  the  means  resorted  to,  to 
make  sure  of  his  acquittal.  The  hand  of  the  Jesuit  is  every- 
where traceable  throughout  the  history  of  this  trial,  and,  by 
that  hand,  one  of  the  most  important  trials  that  the  his- 
tory of  American  jurisprudence  records,  was  well-nigh  turned 
into  a  farce  by  the  skill  and  cunning  of  the  defense.  The 
cunning  of  the  Jesuit  was  exercised  in  the  preparations  made 
in  advance  to  make  sure  of  acquittal  of  the  accused, 

"  A  most  noteworthy  fact  in  connection  with  this  trial,  as 
bearing  upon  the  subject  of  our  investigation,  was  the  deep 
interest  manifested  by  the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood  of 
Washington  in  this  trial,  and  their  sympathy  with  the  ac- 
cused. There  was  scarcely  a  day,  during  the  trial,  but  that 
one  or  more  of  them  was  found  in  the  court^room.  They 
also  made  it  manifest  that  they  were  there  in  behalf  of  the 
prisoner  of  the  bar;  and  that  they  were  ready  to  aid  in  his 
defense  was  very  apparent. 

"  Whenever  the  prosecution  brought  a  witness  on  the  stand 
whose  testimony  was  particularly  damaging  to  the  accused,  a 
witness  was  always  found  to  rebut  his  testimony,  and  was  always 
a  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  It  was  also  a  very 
significant  fact,  that  no  one  of  all  those  witnesses  was  able 
to  pass  the  ordeal  of  Judge  Pierrepont's  cross=examination 
unscathed.  It  looked  as  though  the  task  of  these  priests  was 
to  aid  the  prisoner's  counsel  by  finding  the  witness  that  they 
needed,  and  stuffing  them  with  the  needed  testimony.  It 
was  thus  made  manifest,  during  the  trial,  on  more  than  one 
occasion,  that  witnesses  had  been  hunted  up  and  furnished 
with  a  cooked'Up  testimony  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the 


The  Assassination   of  Lincoln  227 

case.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  whenever  the  prosecution 
thought  it  important  to  rebut  any  testimony,  a  witness  was 
always  promptly  found  for  them,  and  was  always  a  Catholic. 
The  manner  of  these  witnesses  in  testifying,  and  the  fact 
that  they  never  could  stand  the  test  of  Judge  Pierrepont's 
searching  cross-examination,  justly  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion 
that  they  had  been  suborned,  and  were  delivering  a  cooked=^ 
up  testimony.  And  these  facts  gave  rise  to  the  suspicion 
that  it  was  the  special  business  of  some  one  to  find  and  stuff 
witnesses  for  the  occasion. 

"  John  H.  Surratt  had  been  a  student  at  St.  Mary's  college 
for  a  year  or  two,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  He  had 
commenced  a  collegiate  course,  having  the  priesthood  in 
view.  His  sympathies  were  so  strongly  for  the  South  that 
he  left  the  college,  gave  up  his  priestly  aspirations,  and 
engaged  actively  in  the  secret  service  of  the  Confederate 
government. 

"As  a  student  he  was  very  popular  at  the  college,  and 
seemed  to  have  won  the  favour  of  the  president  and  faculty. 
The  summer  vacations  at  the  college  occurred  during  the 
progress  of  the  trial,  and  the  president  took  occasion  to  spend 
a  day  in  the  court=room,  and  sat,  all  day,  at  the  side  of  the 
prisoner  at  the  dock.  His  presence  there  was,  no  doubt, 
intended  to  have  its  effect  on  the  Roman  Catholic  members 
of  the  jury.  It  was  as  much  as  to  say:  'You  see  which  side 
I  am  on.'  Many  of  the  students  of  the  college  took  occa- 
sion to  visit  their  former  fellow  student  during  the  trial,  and 
always  manifested  their  sympathy  for  him  by  the  warmest 
friendly  greeting,  taking  their  places  at  his  side. 

One  important  witness  was  Dr.  McMillan.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  this  witness  was  the  surgeon  of  the  Peruvian, 
and  that  it  was  to  his  care  that  Surratt  had  been  committed, 
under  the  name  of  McCarthy,  by  his  co- conspirators,  Boucher 
and  La  Pierre. 

"  The  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  occupied  seven  or  eight  days, 
and  as  the  doctor  was  the  only  man  on  board  in  whom  Surratt 


228  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

could  contide,  and  as  he  was  carryin<^  in  his  breast  the  secret 
of  the  great  crime  that  was  weighing  heavily  on  his  conscience, 
and  being  all  the  time  haunted  by  the  spectre  of  detectives, 
it  was  natural  that  he  should  seek  relief  in  the  confidential 
companionship  of  McMillan.  He  became  very  communica- 
tive, and  related  the  difficulties  that  he  experienced  and  over- 
came in  making  good  his  escape  from  Washington,  and  in 
getting  back,  to  Canada  after  the  assassination;  the  parts 
taken  by  Porterfield,  Boucher  and  La  Pierre  in  keeping  him 
hidden  away  in  Canada  for  five  months,  and  many  other 
things  relating  to  the  conspiracy;  and,  finally,  he  revealed 
to  him  his  identity.  The  testimony  of  this  witness  was  en- 
tirely conclusive  as  to  his  guilt,  and  so  he  was  particularly 
obnoxious  to  the  prisoner's  counsel. 

"He  was  treated  by  them,  from  the  start,  just  as  they  would 
have  treated  a  witness  who  had  been  convicted  of  perjury, 
although  they  were  unable  to  discredit  him  by  the  legal 
methods.  They  could  not  look  at  him,  or  speak  of  him,  but 
with  the  air  and  language  of  scorn  and  contempt.  So  impor- 
tant did  it  seem  to  discredit  this  witness  that  Priest  Boucher 
voluntarily  came  all  the  way  from  Canada  to  rebut  his  testi- 
mony. His  man,  DuTilly,  was  also  brought;  but  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  they  showed  themselves  to  be  swift 
witnesses,  of  the  most  ready  kind,  they  failed  to  discredit  this 
witness.  Under  the  searching  cross=examination  of  Judge 
Pierrepont  they  were  made  to  corroborate  the  testimony  given 
by  the  doctor  in  all  of  the  most  essential  and  important  par- 
ticulars, and  the  unholy  father  was  made  to  convict  himself 
of  being  equally  guilty  with  the  prisoner. 

"  It  would  seem  that  the  Jesuits  had  had  it  in  mind,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  to  find  occasion  for  the  taking  off 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Early  in  the  war  they  set  a  paragraph  going 
the  rounds  of  the  press,  as  far  as  they  had  it  under  their  con- 
trol, to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  born  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  and  had  been  made  a  member  of  the  Church 
by  his  baptism  into  it,  and  that  he  had  apostatized,  and  be- 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  229 

came  a  heretic.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  seen  this  statement  going 
the  rounds  of  the  press,  and  believed  that  such  a  gross  false- 
hood would  not  have  been  published  without  a  j)uri3ose.  On 
the  occasion  of  a  visit  from  Father  Chiniquy  about  this  time, 
Mr.  Lincoln  called  his  attention  to  this  paragraph,  saying  he 
had  been  greatly  perplexed  in  trying  to  discover  the  object  of 
its  publication;  and  asked  him  if  he  could  give  any  clue  to 
the  motive  that  had  inspired  such  a  falsehood.  I  will  give 
Father  Chiniquy's  own  account  of  his  interview  with  the 
President  on  this  subject: 

"  'The  next  day,  I  was  there  at  the  appointed  hour,  with  my 
noble  friend,  who  said,  "  I  could  not  give  you  more  than  ten 
minutes  yesterday,  but  I  will  give  you  twenty  to-day;  I  want 
your  views  about  a  thing  which  is  exceedingly  puzzling  to  me, 
and  you  are  the  only  one  to  whom  I  like  to  speak  on  that  sub- 
ject. A  great  number  of  democratic  papers  have  been  sent 
to  me  lately,  evidently  written  by  Roman  Catholics,  publish- 
ing that  I  was  born  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  baptized  by  a 
priest.  They  call  me  a  renegade  and  an  apostate  on  account  of 
that;  and  they  heajj  upon  my  head  mountains  of  abuse.  At 
first  I  laughed  at  that,  for  it  is  a  lie ;  thanks  be  to  God,  I  have 
never  been  a  Roman  Catholic.  No  priest  of  Rome  has  ever 
laid  his  hand  on  my  head.  But  the  persistency  of  the  Romish 
press  to  present  tliis  falsehood  to  their  readers  as  a  Gospel 
truth,  must  have  a  meaning.  Please  tell  me  as  briefly  as  pos- 
sible what  you  think  about  that."  "My  dear  President,"  I 
answered,  "  It  was  just  this  strange  story  published  about  you 
that  brought  me  here  yesterday.  I  wanted  to  say  a  word 
about  it;  but  you  were  too  busy.  Let  me  tell  you  that  I  wept 
like  a  child  when  I  read  that  story  for  the  first  time.  For, 
not  only  my  impression  is  that  it  is  your  sentence  to  death, 
but  I  have  it  from  the  lips  of  a  converted  priest  that  it  is  in 
order  to  excite  the  fanaticism  of  the  Roman  Catholic  murder- 
ers, whom  they  hope  to  find,  sooner  or  later,  to  strike  you 
down,  they  have  invented  that  false  story  of  your  being  born  in 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  of  your  being  baptized  by  a  priest. 


230  Forty    Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

They  want  by  that  to  brand  your  face  with  the  ignominious 
mark  of  apostasy.  Do  not  forget  that  in  the  Churcli  of  Rome 
an  apostate  is  an  outcast,  who  has  no  place  in  society,  and 
who  has  no  right  to  live.  The  Jesuits  want  the  Roman 
Catholics  to  believe  that  you  are  a  monster,  an  open  enemy 
of  God  and  the  Church,  that  you  are  an  excommunicated  man. 
For  every  apostate  is  ipso  facto  excommunicated.  I  have 
brought  to  you  the  theology  of  one  of  the  most  learned  and 
approved  of  the  Jesuits  of  his  time,  Bussambaum,  who,  with 
many  others,  say  that  the  man  who  will  kill  you  wuU  do  a 
good  and  holy  work.  More  than  that,  here  is  a  copy  of  a 
decree  of  Gregory  VII.  proclaiming  that  the  killing  of  an 
apostate,  or  a  heretic,  and  an  excommunicated  man,  as  you 
are  declared  to  be,  is  not  murder;  nay,  that  it  is  a  good,  a 
Christian  action.  That  decree  is  incorporated  in  the  canon 
law,  which  every  priest  must  study,  and  which  every  good 
Catholic  must  follow. 

" ' "  My  dear  President,  I  must  repeat  to  you  here,  what  I  said 
when  in  Urbana  in  185G.  My  fear  is  that  you  will  fall  under 
the  blows  of  a  Jesuit  assassin  if  you  do  not  pay  more  atten- 
tion than  you  have  done  till  now  to  protect  yourself.  Re- 
member that  because  Coligny  was  a  heretic,  as  you  are,  he  was 
brutally  murdered  in  the  St.  Bartholomew  night;  that  Henry 
IV.  was  stabbed  by  the  Jesuit  assassin,  Ravaillac  the  four- 
teenth of  May,  1610,  for  having  given  liberty  of  conscience  to 
his  people,  and  that  William  the  Taciturn  was  shot  dead  by 
another  Jesuit  murderer,  called  Girard,  for  having  broken 
the  yoke  of  the  Pope.  The  Church  of  Rome  is  absolutely 
the  same  to-day  as  she  w^as  then;  she  does  believe  and  teach, 
to-day,  as  then,  that  she  has  the  right  and  that  it  is  her  duty 
to  punish  with  death  any  heretic  who  is  in  her  way  as  an 
obstacle  to  her  designs. 

'"  "The  unanimity  with  which  the  Catholic  hierarchy  of  the 
United  States  is  on  the  side  of  the  rebels,  is  an  incontroverti- 
ble evidence  that  Rome  wants  to  destroy  the  Republic,  and 
as  you  are,  by  your  personal  influence  and  popularity,  your 
love  of  liberty,  your  position,  the  greatest  obstacle  to  their 


The  Assassination  of  Lincoln  231 

diabolical  scheme,  their  hatred  is  concentrated  on  you;  you 
are  the  daily  object  of  their  maledictions;  it  is  at  your  breast 
they  will  direct  their  blows.  My  blood  chills  in  my  veins 
when  I  contemplate  the  day  which  may  come,  sooner  or  later, 
when  Rome  will  add  to  all  her  iniquities  the  murder  of 
Abraham  Lincoln.' " 

"  The  charge  that  Rome  was  responsible  for  the  assassina- 
tion of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  first  made,  so  far  as  I  am  ad- 
vised, by  Father  Chiniquy;  and  was  founded  not  only  on  the 
fact  which  I  have  here  given,  but  on  facts  that  came  to  him 
as  a  result  of  his  own  personal  research.  His  charge  is  dis- 
tinctly and  explicitly  made  in  his  book,  entitled,  'Fifty 
Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome.'  He  there  shows  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  had  incurred  the  deadly  enmity  of  the  Jesuits  by  foil- 
ing and  disappointing  them  in  the  effort  they  had  made  to 
convict  Father  Chiniquy  of  a  crime  of  which  they  had  falsely 
accused  him;  and  which,  had  they  succeeded  in  convicting 
him,  would  not  only  have  ruined  his  reputation,  but  would 
have  secured  his  incarceration  in  a  prison. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  defended  Father  Chiniquy,  and  being  fur- 
nished, apparently  by  a  special  providence,  with  evidence  that 
revealed  their  wicked  conspiracy  to  destroy  him,  and  con- 
victed them  of  perjury,  he  was  able  triumi^hantly  to  defeat 
their  wicked  scheme;  and  gave  them  such  a  scathing  as  made 
them  tremble  with  rage,  and  slink  away  with  vows  of  ven- 
geance in  their  hearts. 

"  Father  Chiniquy  i  n  making  his  warm  acknowledgement 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  could  not  refrain  from  shedding  tears.  Upon 
Mr.  Lincoln's  expressing  surprise  at  this,  and  saying  to  him 
that  he  ought  to  be  the  happiest  man  in  the  world.  Father 
Chiniquy  replied  that  it  was  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  not  for 
himself,  that  his  tears  were  falling.  He  then  exijlained  the 
cause  of  his  emotion,  sayi  ng  that,  knowing  the  Jesuits  as  he 
did,  and  reading  a  purpose  of  vengeance  in  their  murderous 
eyes,  he  knew  that  they  would  never  rest  until  they  had  com- 
passed his  death. 

"This  occurred  at  Urbana,  111.,  in  1856.     In  the  providence 


232  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

of  God,  the  duty  fell  on  Mr.  Lincoln  of  putting  down  a  for- 
midable rebellion,  and  of  maintaining  the  authority  of  the 
government  by  its  military  arm;  and  Father  Cliiniquy,  realiz- 
ing that  a  state  of  war  would  afford  the  Jesuits  the  opportu- 
nity that  they  sought  to  at  once  wreak  their  vengeance  or. 
personal  account,  and  give  a  stab  at  the  life  of  the  government, 
made  three  different  visits  to  the  President,  during  his  admin- 
istration, to  give  him  warning  of  his  danger,  and  to  put  him 
on  his  guard.  As  Father  Chiniquy  has  kindly  given  me  the 
liberty  to  use  his  book  freely  for  the  purpose  of  this  book,  I 
have  given  above  the  result  of  one  of  these  visits,  and  shall 
make  still  further  use  of  his  book  in  closing  up  this  inc^uiry. 

"  We  have  now  traced  the  history  of  this  assassination  as 
revealed  by  the  testimony  given  before  the  military  commis- 
sion, and  before  a  civil  court,  two  years  later;  and  we  find 
ourselves  coming  in  contact  with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
at  every  point,  and  always  as  a  deeply  interested  party,  thus 
showing  its  relation  to  the  crime.  Its  sympathy  was  always 
with  the  assassins,  wherever  we  came  in  contact  with  it.  Its 
animus  toward  the  government  was  always  seen  to  be  that  of 
the  bitterest  hatred  and  scorn.  Its  manner,  that  of  a  lion 
robbed  of  its  prey.  Its  every  effort  was  to  shield,  and  give  aid 
to,  those  on  trial;  and  when  it  failed  in  this,  to  cast  obloquy 
on  the  government,  and  to  bring  it  into  contemjpt.  Thus  the 
history  of  this  great  crime  reveals  to  us  Rome's  responsibility 
for  the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  not  as  an  in- 
dividual man,  however  much  of  personal  hatred  on  the  part 
of  the  Jesuits  might  have  led  them  to  plan  for  his  death,  but 
as  the  head  of  the  nation  they  desired  to  destroy  him.  But  we 
shall  now  proceed  to  give  the  most  positive  and  unequivocal 
proof  of  the  complicity  of  the  Romish  hierarchy  in,  and  its 
responsibility  for,  this  crime." 

I  have  thus  quoted  fr(^m  General  Harris  on  the  subject,  to 
give  not  oidy  the  main  facts,  but  to  show  that  the  very  ex- 
tensive research  of  another  goes  to  corroborate  what  I  stated 
in  my  "  Fifty  Years." 


CHAPTER  XXIl 

A  Great  and  Good  Institution:  The  Presbyterian  College,  Montreal. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  MacVicar. 

During  my  mission  work  in  Montreal  in  the  winter  of  1870, 
walking  one  day  on  St.  Catherine  Street  with  a  city  pastor,  a 
friend  of  mine,  we  happened  to  pass  by  Erskine  church. 
That  friend,  knowing  the  interest  I  always  took  in  matters 
relating  to  education,  asked  me: 

"  Would  you  not  like  to  see  the  class  of  students  for  the 
ministry  which  the  Rev.  MacVicar  and  Rev.  Gibson  are 
teaching?" 

"  I  never  heard  that  there  was  such  a  class  of  students  in 
Montreal,"  I  answered. 

"Yes,  there  is  one,"  said  my  friend.  "  Rev.  MacVicar  is  so 
much  impressed  with  the  insufficient  number  of  ministers  for 
the  Protestant  population  of  Quebec  that  he  is  determined  to 
teach  all  the  young  men  who  have  a  desire  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  the  ministry.  As  there  is  no  college  and  no  place 
for  such  a  work  in  Montreal,  he  has  gathered  his  pupils  in 
the  basement  of  Erskine  church." 

When  inside  the  basement  room,  I  found  it  small,  low, 
badly  ventilated,  badly  lighted.  But,  if  the  material  aspect 
of  this  newly  improvised  class-room  was  as  humble  and  poor 
as  it  could  be,  it  was  not  so  with  the  appearance  of  the 
teacher. 

Nothing  could  be  more  pleasant  than  to  look  at  his  honest 
face.  He  was  the  very  personification  of  health,  strength, 
intelligence,  and  Christian  enthusiasm. 

No  king  on  his  throne  ever  looked  more  happy  than  the 
Rev.  D.  H.  MacVicar,  in  that  very  first  hour  that  I  made  his 
personal  acquaintance.     His  high  stature,  nearly  six  feet,  his 

233 


234  Forty    Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

broad  shoulders,  fine  and  perfectly  well^formed  chest,  his 
splendid  forehead,  the  evident  dwelling-place  of  very  high  in- 
telligence, all  the  fine  and  regular  but  stern  lines  of  his  face, 
were  telling  me  that  I  was  in  the  presence  of  one  of  those  few 
men  whose  marble  statues  will  some  day  adorn  the  public 
places  of  their  grateful  country. 

After  saluting  me  in  that  gentlemanly  manner  which  is  his 
own,  he  continued  his  lesson.  It  was  the  explanation  of  the 
Binomial  Theorem  of  Newton. 

When  young,  the  study  of  mathematics  had  not  only  been 
a  pleasure  to  me,  but  it  was  a  real  passion,  and  I  felt  so 
pleased  and  so  full  of  admiration  for  his  ease  and  lucidity  in 
explaining  the  most  difficult  parts  of  that  remarkable  problem 
that  the  sweet  remembrances  of  my  college  days  were  revived 
within  my  heart. 

After  taking  leave  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mac  Vicar,  I  said  to  my 
companion,  "  I  am  filled  with  admiration  for  the  high  capacity 
of  that  young  mathematical  teacher.  Sooner  or  later  the 
Protestants  of  Canada  will  acknowledge  his  unparalleled 
capacity.  Such  a  treasure  of  learning  and  zeal  will  not  be 
left  in  the  low  and  obscure  basement  of  this  church." 

"  The  Rev.  Mr.  MacVicar  is  surely  an  able  mathematician," 
answered  my  companion,  "but  his  enormous  ambition  will 
destroy  him.  Do  you  not  know  that  his  dream  is  to  have  a 
large  Presbyterian  college  in  Montreal?  We  have  already 
enough,  if  not  too  many,  of  these  institutions  for  the  small 
means  of  our  young  and  struggling  churches.  The  theolog- 
ical colleges  of  Kingston,  Toronto  and  Halifax  are  as  much  as 
Canadian  Presbyterian  Churches  can  support.  Even  Mr. 
MacVicar  would  see  this  if  his  unquenchable  ambition  were 
not  blinding  him.  He  evidently  aims  at  being  called  '  the 
founder  of  the  Montreal  Presbyterian  College.'  But  he  will 
be  disappointed.  I  am  very  sorry  for  that,  for  I  like  him;  he 
is  one  of  our  best  working  men,  full  of  zeal  and  piety,  but  his 
ambition  is  almost  boundless,  and  it  will  destroy  him." 

"  Allow  me  to  differ  with  you,"  I  answered.     "  If  there  is  a 


Presbyterian   College,   Montreal  235 

thing  that  is  needed  in  Montreal,  to-day,  it  is  a  college  where 
our  Christian  young  men  will  be  prepared  to  spread  the  Gos- 
pel among  the  French  population  of  this  Province  of  Quebec, 
as  well  as  among  the  English  speaking  people.  A  battle 
must  be  fought,  to=day,  in  this  province,  of  far  more  impor- 
tance than  the  battle  of  the  Plains  of  Abraham  by  the  soldiers 
of  the  Gospel,  if  they  want  to  be  true  to  themselves  and  to 
the  God  who  gave  them  the  vast  regions  of  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.  The  ambition  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  MacVicar  is  a  noble 
one.  It  is  the  grand  ambition  of  a  true  Christian.  I  hope 
and  pray  that  the  day  will  soon  come,  when,  in  the  very  heart 
of  this  Roman  Catholic  province,  there  will  be  a  Presbyterian 
college,  which  will  be  as  the  lighthouse  from  which  the  blaz- 
ing light  will  show  to  the  mariners  how  to  save  the  ship  from 
the  rock  concealed  under  the  perfidious  waves  of  the  stormy 
sea.  I  would  give  up,  this  very  day,  the  blessed  evangelical 
work  in  which  I  am  engaged  among  my  Roman  Catholic 
countrymen,  if  I  had  not  in  my  heart  the  hope  that,  before 
long,  there  will  be  a  Protestant  college  where  the  more  intel- 
ligent of  the  young  men,  whom  we  bring  to  Christ,  will  be 
trained  to  preach  the  Gospel.  Before  long  I  will  be  in  my 
grave  with  the  few  evangelists  who  are  helping  me  and  whom 
I  am  helping  in  this  precious  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard;  and 
who  will  take  our  places  if  there  is  no  college  where  new 
recruits  will  be  trained  to  continue  our  evangelical  work? 
Surely  Mr.  MacVicar  is  too  poor  to  build  that  college,  but  the 
God  who  has  put  into  his  heart  the  noble  and  holy  ambition 
of  raising  it,  is  rich  enough  to  do  it.  The  gold  and  silver  of 
the  whole  world  are  His  and  there  are  enough  noble  and  rich 
Christian  men  to  do  that  blessed  work,  when  the  hour  ap- 
pointed  by  the  providence  of  God  will  sound  from  the  clock 
of  heaven. 

And,  blessed  be  the  Lord,  that  great  and  glorious  work  is 
already  done. 

Come  and  see  it!     and  tell  me  if  it  does  not  look  like  a 
miracle.     Yes!    come    and    see    the    magnificent    Montreal 


236  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

college — look  at  its  elegant  steeple,  pointing  to  heaven,  where 
dwells  the  God  whose  will  is  that  "every  man  should  be 
saved  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel!"  See  the  vast 
and  magnificent  rooms  prepared  for  the  happy  young  men 
whom  the  Good  Master  is  calling  to  work  in  His  blessed  vine- 
yard! See  the  beautiful  and  vast  chapel  whose  walls  resound 
with  the  hymns  of  praise  of  those  to  whom  it  has  been  said, 
"  Go  and  teach  all  the  nations  .  .  .  Lo,  I  will  be  with 
you  to  the  end  of  the  world!" 

That  college,  whose  foundations  were  laid  in  1872,  is  situ- 
ated on  a  most  beautiful  spot,  on  the  flank  of  the  mountain 
whose  foot  is  washed  by  the  waters  of  the  majestic  St.  Law- 
rence river,  and  whose  top  is  crowned  with  the  grandest  pub- 
lic park.  From  the  upper  part  of  the  college,  your  vision  will 
embrace  some  of  the  most  magnificent  scenery  the  world  can 
give  you.  At  your  feet  is  the  mighty  St.  Lawrence  river, 
rolling  its  deep  and  rapid  waters  as  far  as  your  eyes  can  see. 
Count,  if  you  can,  the  splendid  steamers  or  other  ships  ar- 
riving from  Europe,  or  starting  with  their  rich  cargoes  for  the 
different  parts  of  the  world.  Will  not  your  mind  be  filled 
with  admiration  at  the  sigh  t  of  the  marvelous  Victoria  Bridge, 
two  miles  long,  spanning  the  giant  river  from  the  top  of  its 
twenty=four  piers,  each  one  hundred  feet  high? 

If,  from  the  top  of  the  upper  part  of  that  college,  you  raise 
your  eyes  towards  the  south,  you  will  see  the  vast  and  rich 
plain,  cut  in  two  by  the  beautiful  Richelieu  river;  and  you 
will  have  to  admire  the  mountains  of  Rouville,  Bel^oeil,  St. 
Pie,  which  look  like  giant  sentinels  to  watch  over  the  grand 
destinies  of  Canada.  Now  let  your  eyes  survey  the  nearer 
prospects  and  you  will  see,  a  little  to  your  right  hand,  the 
princely  palace  of  the  Canadian  Pacific  R.  R.  station;  listen 
and  you  will  hear  the  thundering  cars,  which,  night  and  day, 
are  in  motion  to  pour  the  incalculable  treasures  of  Asia  and 
Europe  into  the  bosom  of  each  other.  Look  again  and  you 
will  see  a  part  of  that  marvelous  steel  chain  which  binds  the 
Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  Oceans  together,  holding  them  as 


Presbyterian  College,  Montreal  237 

prisoners  to  the  feet  of  our  dear  Canada.  It  is  that  marvelous 
railroad,  4,000  miles  long,  which  is  destined  to  make  only  one 
nation  of  all  the  people  of  the  globe.  Yes,  it  is  through  that 
marvelous  Canadian  Pacific  R.  R.  that  the  divers  nations  of 
Asia,  Africa,  the  Islands  of  the  Sea  and  Europe  will  now 
shake  hands  and  embrace  each  other  with  the  fraternal  em- 
brace of  peace,  common  interest  and  Christian  love,  on  the 
very  spot  where  you  stand. 

From  those  marvels  of  the  work  of  God,  so  well  blended 
with  the  marvels  of  human  intelligence  and  industry,  go 
and  see  the  library — and  there  you  will  not  be  less  filled  with 
admiration  at  the  number  of  the  rare  and  precious  books  that 
it  contains,  from  the  magnificent  edition  of  the  church 
fathers  to  the  Codex  Sihiaticus. 

The  value  of  that  college  library,  though  so  young,  is 
already  more  than  $100,000,  given  by  the  generous  citizens  of 
Montreal,  and  others.  The  college  has  already  endowed  chairs 
to  the  amount  of  $800,000,  given  by  Joseph  McKay,  Edward 
McKay,  Robert  McKay,  Hugh  McKay,  James  McKay,  Mrs. 
Redpath  and  several  unknown  Christian  benefactors. 

The  whole  value  of  that  splendid  college  is  almost  half  a 
million  of  dollars,  the  fifth  part  coming  from  Mr.  David 
Morrice.  And  that  you  may  better  appreciate  the  noble 
character  of  the  English  Protestants  of  Montreal,  let  me  tell 
you  that  at  the  same  time  they  were  erecting  that  monument 
of  their  Christian  zeal  and  intelligence,  they  were  giving  three 
millions  of  dollars  for  the  endowments  and  princely  build- 
ings of  McGill  University,  which  are  only  a  few  rods  from 
the  Presbyterian  college. 

Now,  from  the  material  survey  of  that  Christian  and  so 
noble  an  institution,  let  us  spend  a  moment  with  the  one  who 
is  the  soul  and  the  inspiring  spirit  of  the  whole — the  Rev. 
Dr.  D.  H.  MacVicar,  born  in  Dunglass,  Argyleshire,  Scot- 
land. He  came  to  Canada  in  1836.  He  studied  in  Toronto 
Academy,  Toronto  University  and  Knox  College.  His  first 
charge,  when  a  minister,  in  1859,  was  Knox  Church,  Guelph; 


238  Forty  Years  in  the    Church  of  Christ 

his  second  was  the  Free  Church,  C6t6  Street,  Montreal.  He 
became  thus,  the  successor  of  the  eloquent  Donald  Fraser, 
who  was  called  to  London,  England.  In  1868,  in  the  humble 
basement  of  Erskine  Church,  he  began  to  gather  and  to  teach 
the  young  men  who  desired  to  consecrate  themselves  to  the 
holy  ministry. 

He  was  moderator  of  the  session  of  C6t6  Street  Church 
when  that  congregation  moved  to  the  west  and  built  the 
splendid  Crescent  Street  Church,  which  may  be  called  the 
first  grand  monument  of  his  zeal  and  Christian  ambition. 

It  is  to  his  indomitable  energy  and  zeal,  after  Grod,  we  owe 
the  grand  success  of  the  French  Canadian  Evangelical 
Society,  of  which  he  has  been  president  from  its  founda- 
tion. 

His  remarkable  business  capacity  and  vast  literary  acquisi- 
tions caused  him  to  be  chosen  as  one  of  the  Protestant  School 
Commissioners,  which  board  he  has  served  twenty  years, 
and  of  which  he  is  chairman.  He  was  sent  as  a  deputy  to 
the  Pan=Presbyterian  councils  held  in  America  and  Europe. 

He  has  been  considered  one  of  the  ablest  teachers  in  all  the 
branches  of  theology  and  philosophy,  and  has  lectured  in 
other  departments,  such  as  classics,  ethics  and  pedagogics. 
In  McGill  University,  he  lectured  on  logic  a  whole  ses- 
sion. He  has  occupied  the  position  of  Moderator  of  the 
General  Presbyterian  Assembly,  and  there  has  never  been 
an  important  subject  discussed  in  those  assemblies  where  his 
eloquent  voice  has  not  been  heard  and  listened  to  with  a  pro- 
found interest. 

He  received  the  dignity  of  D.  D.  from  Knox  College, 
Toronto,  and  McGill  University  conferred  on  him  the  honour- 
ary  title  of  LL.  D. 

Besides  the  immense  details  of  his  various  duties  as  prin- 
cipal, and  professor  of  systematic  theology  of  the  Montreal 
Presbyterian  college,  he  has  written  several  learned  treatises 
on  Arithmetic,  as  well  as  a  large  number  of  very  able  articles 
for  "  The  Quarterly  Review"  and  other  public  periodicals. 


Presbyterian  College,  Montreal  239 

For  two  years  he  fought  like  a  giant  against  the  infamous 
theft  of  the  $400,000  given  by  the  government  (Mercier)  to 
the  Jesuits. 

But  I  would  have  to  write  a  volume,  instead  of  a  short 
chapter,  had  I  to  say  all  I  know  about  the  zeal  and  Christian 
labours  of  Dr.  MacVicar. 

However,  I  will  not  omit  to  say  that  several  times  his 
great  learning,  eloquence  and  zeal  have  so  much  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  rich  congregations  of  New  York  and  other 
parts  of  the  United  States,  that  large  sums  of  money  have 
been  offered  him  if  he  would  consent  to  leave  his  position  in 
Canada  to  go  and  work  among  them.  He  has  always  refused 
these  mundane  inducements.  He  preferred  to  be  poor  with 
his  own  people  rather  than  rich  in  a  strange  land. 

Dr.  MacVicar  has  understood  that  there  is  something  more 
precious  and  desirable  than  gold  or  silver,  and  he  was  not 
mistaken.  The  250  ministers  of  the  Gospel  who  have  already 
come  out  of  his  college,  with  the  view  of  preaching  the 
Gospel,  are  treasures  worth  more  than  all  the  gold  which  the 
mountains  of  California  and  Australia  have  given  to  the 
world.  The  splendid  Montreal  Presbyterian  College  is  a  gem 
to  the  crown  of  Dr.  MacVicar  more  precious  than  all  the 
pearls  and  precious  stones  in  the  crown  of  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land. Through  that  grand  Christian  institution,  Dr.  Mac- 
Vicar has  become  one  of  those  shining  lights  which  cannot 
be  put  under  the  bushel,  but  stand  on  the  candlestick,  that 
men  may  see  it  and  glorify  the  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Antigonish  Riot  of  the  J  0th  of  July,  1873 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
the  Lower  Provinces,  held  in  Truro  in  1873,  while  the  subject 
of  the  mission  to  the  French  Roman  Catholics  was  under  con- 
sideration, I  was  invited  to  address  the  Synod,  and  in  the 
course  of  my  remarks  spoke  at  length  on  the  subject  of 
Romanism,  and  also  of  my  recent  and  past  work. 

At  the  close  of  my  address  I  received  the  thanks  of  the 
Synod,  and  was  authorized  to  visit  any  of  the  congregations 
of  the  church,  with  whose  pastors  I  might  make  arrange- 
ments, and  to  receive  onedialf  of  the  collections  which  might 
be  taken  up  at  any  of  my  meetings,  the  other  half  to  be  ap- 
plied for  the  benefit  of  the  Synod  missions. 

Under  this  arrangement  I  visited  a  large  number  of  the 
congregations  connected  with  the  Presbyteries  of  Pictou  and 
Prince  Edward  Island. 

I  was  invited  by  my  kind  friend,  Dr.  Goodfellow,  pas+or  of 
Antigonish,  one  of  the  most  thriving  towns  of  Nova  Scotia, 
to  give  an  address  to  his  people.  In  this  invitation  he  warned 
me  that  the  great  majority  of  the  town  was  composed  of 
Roman  Catholics,  but  he  said,  "  You  have  nothing  to  fear 
here.  There  is  a  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  a  college  and  a 
nunnery,  and  a  good  number  of  priests,  but  they  are  all  my 
personal  friends."  I  answered  him,  that  I  would  go  with 
pleasure  though  I  had  no  confidence  in  the  tolerance  and 
liberality  of  the  Scotch  Roman  Catholics,  and  that  the 
Protestants  would  do  very  well  to  be  on  their  guard;  but  I 
was  ready  to  face  the  rioters  if  we  were  to  have  a  riot  as  I 
expected.     Two  days  before  leaving  New  Glasgow,  where   I 

240 


Antigonish  Riot  241 

was  lecturing,  I  received  a  letter  dated  from  Antigonish,  with 
the  picture  of  a  skeleton  and  a  coflSin,  with  these  words:  "In- 
famous apostate!  this  is  what  you  may  expect  if  you  dare  to 
come  and  profane  by  your  presence  the  Catholic  town  of 
Antigonish," 

When  in  Mr.  Goodfellow's  parsonage  I  showed  him  that 
letter;  it  made  him  laugh.  "Ha!  ha!"  he  said,  "this  is  some 
schoolboy's  trick  to  frighten  you.  The  Catholics  are  all  my 
friends  here,  priests  and  people,  and  many  have  told  me  that 
there  is  not  the  least  danger." 

"  You  do  not  know  the  priests  of  Rome.  They  are,  in  gen- 
eral, the  greatest  hypocrites  and  the  most  deceitful  men  you 
can  imagine.  It  is  when  they  tell  you  there  is  no  danger, 
that  there  is  the  greatest  danger;  it  is  when  they  cry,  peace, 
peace,  that  you  must  prepare  yourself  for  war.  They  are  not 
only  deceitful  men,  but  they  are  cowards,  they  want  to  attack 
you  only  when  you  are  not  on  your  guard,  and  unprepared  to 
defend  yourself."     This  made  him  laugh  outright. 

"I  have  been  told,"  he  said,  "that  you  were  brave,  but  I 
fear  that  you  are  not  as  brave  as  I  expected,  for  you  see 
danger  where  there  is  no  danger  at  all." 

"  Well,  when  the  riot  comes  and  the  stones  fly  round  our 
heads,  we  will  see  who  is  the  braver,  you  or  I." 

We  dismissed  the  subject  till  the  hour  of  the  meeting. 
When  it  was  time  to  leave,  I  asked  Mr.  Goodfellow  to  give 
me  some  strings.  "What  for?"  said  Mr.  Goodfellow.  "To 
tie  my  hat  to  my  head  so  well  that  I  will  not  lose  it  when  the 
sticks  hit  it."  He  laughed  to  his  heart's  content  and  said: 
"  I  see  that  you  have  a  terrible  fear  of  the  stones.  I  thought 
that  you  were  more  brave  than  that."  "When  the  sticks  and 
stones  come  you  will  wish  to  have  my  strings  to  keep  your 
hat  solid  on  your  head."  "  Dear  Father  Chiniquy,"  he  an- 
swered, "a  brave  man  is  not  used  to  see  danger  where  there 
is  none."  "You  will  understand  the  meaning  of  your  words 
when  your  hat  will  go.  I  have  been  in  the  fire  so  many  times 
that  I  know  what  I  say.     And  no  doubt  you  will  be  wiser  on 


242  Forty  Years   in  the  Church  of  Christ 

the  subject  before  the  dawn  of  next  day."  Then  like  the  old 
warriors  who  never  went  to  war  without  their  shield,  I  took 
my  thick  shawl  which  I  always  carried  with  me,  and  as  it  was 
a  very  warm  evening  Mr.  Goodfellow  could  not  understand 
why  I  wanted  such  a  heavy  garment.  He  only  laughed  at 
the  reasons  when  I  told  him  he  would  understand  why  when 
the  stones  would  come  on  our  shoulders.  "That  plaid  has 
already  saved  my  life  several  times,  and  it  will  probably  save 
it  again  to-night.  There  is  nothing  like  heavy  wool  to  ward 
off  the  power  of  the  stones  when  they  strike  the  shoulders." 
I  never  heard  a  heartier  laugh  of  contempt  than  his,  at  my 
unreasonable  fear,  but  I  was  not  disturbed  by  his  jokes  and  I 
kept  my  shawl. 

We  found  the  church  crowded  and  evidently  one=third  of 
the  audience  were  Roman  Catholics. 

I  had  not  spoken  twenty  minutes,  when  an  old  woman  rose 
on  her  feet,  and  cried  out,  "At  him,  boys!"  and  instantly  a 
number  of  young  men  rushed  towards  me,  filling  the  church 
with  their  cries,  "  That's  a  lie!"  Fortunately  there  was  a  good 
number  of  Protestants  in  front  of  the  pulpit  who  at  once 
formed  an  impassable  wall  between  me  and  the  rioters. 

At  the  same  time  cries  of  "  Fire!  Fire!"  were  heard  outside 
and  inside  the  church,  and  the  bells  began  to  ring.  Address- 
ing myself  to  Mr.  Goodfellow,  I  said,  "  You  see,  my  friend,  it 
is  just  as  I  expected,  I  cannot  continue  the  meeting,  the  only 
thing  we  have  to  do  is  to  go  back  home."  In  vain  Mr. 
Goodfellow  tried  to  show  the  rioters  the  infamy  of  their  con- 
duct, his  voice  was  covered  with  the  cries  of  "Fire!  Fire!" 

A  few  friends  having  come  around  me,  with  Mr.  Good- 
fellow, we  walked  towards  the  door,  in  the  midst  of  the  cries 
"You  are  a  liar!  kill  him!  kill  him!"  At  the  door  were 
several  bloodthirsty  Roman  Catholics  crying,  "  That  is  the 
liar!  kill  him!" 

Then  eggs  began  to  be  thrown  at  me  from  every  direction. 
In  a  little  while  dozens  had  been  disposed  of.  The  reader 
may  understand  that  I  looked  more  like  an  omelette  than  a 
man.   I  was  covered  from  head  to  foot;  but  fortunately  they 


Antigonish  Riot  243 

were  fresh  eggs.  Then  I  said  to  Mr.  Goodfellow:  "  When  the 
eggs  are  finished,  we  shall  have  stones."  He  answered  me, 
"  Oh,  I  hope  not."  The  words  were  still  on  his  lips,  when  a 
stone  struck  me  on  the  breast,  and  I  would  have  fallen  on  the 
ground  had  not  two  friends  prevented  me.  A  moment  after 
a  Protestant  lady,  who  had  stood  by  me  all  the  time,  hoping 
that  her  presence  would  make  the  rioters  less  brutal,  was 
struck  with  such  force  with  a  stone  that  we  thought  that  her 
leg  was  broken.  She  was  carried  into  the  first  house  by  two 
friends  who  were  near  us. 

During  this  time  the  stones  were  falling  upon  me  from 
every  side  like  hail  in  a  storm,  but  my  hat  was  well  secured 
on  my  head  by  the  strings,  and  the  shawl,  well  wrapped 
around  my  shoulders,  prevented  the  stones  from  cutting  the 
skin  and  breaking  the  bones. 

Then  Mr.  Goodfellow,  frightened  by  the  horrible  cries  and 
hail  of  stones,  took  me  by  the  arm  and  said:  "Let  us  run; 
they  will  kill  us."  I  answered  him,  "  Surely  they  will  kill 
us.  We  will  probably  die  to-night,  but  we  must  die  like 
Christian  soldiers,  facing  the  foe.  There  is  no  use,  they  can 
run  as  fast  as  you  or  I."  At  that  moment  a  big  stone  missing 
me  struck  his  silk  hat  and  it  went  like  a  feather  before 
the  wind.  Then  his  head  being  uncovered  was  so  badly 
struck  with  another  stone,  that  he  fell  down,  his  face  in  the 
mud,  crying:  "My  skull  is  broken!  I  am  killed!"  We  helped 
him  to  get  up.  His  face  was  covered  with  blood  and  the  skin 
was  torn.  I  was  horrified  at  the  sight  and  I  thought  that  he 
would  die.  I  turned  towards  the  rioters  and  said:  "You  are 
a  band  of  cowards!"  I  saw,  then,  very  near  us,  four  priests 
encouraging  the  rioters  and  laughing  outright. 

We  would  evidently  have  been  killed  there,  if  providentially 
we  had  not  been  at  the  door  of  a  Protestant  merchant,  called 
Cameron,  who,  hearing  the  cries  and  seeing  the  rioters 
around  us,  opened  his  door  and  said:  "You  and  Father 
Chiniquy  come  in  and  save  your  lives." 

Mr.  Goodfellow  could  hardly  stand  on  his  feet,  but.  though 
bruised  from  head  to  foot  myself,  I  could  with  other  friends 


244  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

help  him  into  the  house,  which  was  immediately  closed  to  the 
rioters,  who  began  to  throw  stones  in  the  windows,  smashing 
every  pane  of  glass,  and  threatening  Mr.  Cameron  to  set  fire 
to  his  house  if  he  did  not  give  me  up  to  be  hanged.  Mr 
Cameron  said  to  me:  "  Do  not  fear,  the  cowards  w\\\  not  set 
fire  to  my  house,  for  the  strong  wind  now  blowing  from  the 
sea  would  turn  the  whole  town  into  ashes." 

We  immediately  went  upstairs  on  entering  the  house,  and 
w^hile  waiting  for  the  doctor,  who  had  been  sent  for,  I  asked 
one  of  the  elders  to  read  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  John. 

My  soul  had  never  been  filled  with  such  joy  as  then,  when, 
bleeding  and  bruised  for  the  dear  Saviour's  sake,  we  were 
hearing  His  sweet  voice  telling  us,  "  Abide  in  Me;  I  will  abide 
in  you.  I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches.  I  will  not  call 
you  any  more  My  servants,  but  My  friends.  The  servant  is 
not  above  his  master.  If  they  have  persecuted  Me,  they  will 
also  persecute  you." 

And  on  our  knees  we  were  answering  Him :  "  Yes,  dear  Jesus, 
we  will  abide  in  Thee;  come  and  abide  in  us,  when  wounded 
and  bleeding  we  are  suffering  for  Thy  sake." 

When  the  doctor  was  examining  the  wound  of  Mr.  Good- 
fellow  and  washing  off  the  blood,  the  rioters  fixed  a  ladder  up 
to  the  window,  and  three  times  came  up  with  a  rope  to  hang 
me.  But  every  time  brave  young  men  with  axes  repulsed 
them,  telling  them  that  if  they  came  up  an  inch  higher  they 
would  split  their  heads.  And  the  sight  of  the  axes  brandished 
above  their  heads  was  eloquent  enough  to  persuade  them  to 
pass  down  the  ladder. 

We  were  besieged  in  that  way  until  after  one  in  the  morning. 
Then  they  began  to  disperse,  and  Mr.  Goodfellow,  supported 
by  friends,  was  taken  back  to  his  house,  where  his  poor  wife 
was  half  dead  with  fright.  She  had  heard  the  cries  and 
seen  the  excited  multitudes  running  and  crying,  "Kill  him! 
kill  him!"  The  fact  is  that  she  died  not  long  after  from 
the  effects  of  that  terrible  night. 

It  will  be  imagined  what  an  effect  such  a  brutal  attempt 
at  liberty  of  conscience  produced  on  the  public  mind. 


Antigonish  Riot  245 

Indignant  at  such  intolerance  practised  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  in  a  Protestant  province,  nay  in  a  Protestant 
country,  the  Presbytery  of  Pictou,  voicing  public  opinion, 
protested  publicly  against  that  brutal  assault,  revealing  such 
bloodthirsty  hatred;  took  up  the  affair  and  instituted  law  pro- 
ceedings, all  against  my  will,  for  I  told  them:  "  So  long  as  you 
give  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  Roman  Catholics,  it  is  their 
right  to  stone,  persecute,  and  kill  you.  It  is  the  law  of 
the  Church  of  Rome  that  they  must  exterminate  the  Protes- 
tants. It  is  not  only  their  right,  but  it  is  their  duty  to  kill 
you  when  they  have  the  opportunity.  You  find  this  law  in 
the  decisions  of  their  councils  and  their  Popes,  which  has 
never  been  repealed.  Besides  you  can  never  get  the  truth 
out  of  a  Roman  Catholic  when  his  Church  is  in  jeopardy, 
because  he  is  ordered  by  his  Church  to  lie,  according  to 
the  Jesuitical  doctrine,  that  the  end  justifies  the  means. 

The  result  of  the  lawsuit  proved  that  I  was  right. 

The  Presbytery  took  decided  action  in  relation  to  the 
matter.  The  members  made  a  strong  effort  to  have  the 
leaders  in  the  riot  legally  punished;  but  it  failed,  as  I  foresaw 
and  felt.  Of  course  there  were  witnesses  on  hand  who  were 
ready  to  give  testimony  under  oath,  such  as  would  suit  the 
purpose  of  those  who  aided  negatively  and  positively  the 
cruel  persecution.  That  reacted  terribly  against  the  Roman 
Catholics,  and  the  Bishop  and  priests  saw  not  long  after  that 
they  had  committed  at  least  a  great  blunder  against  themselves. 
The  Romanists  have  felt  the  disgrace  and  the  bad  effects  of 
it  ever  since,  and  I  venture  to  say  that  if  I  had  gone  to 
Antigonish  several  times  since,  there  would  not  have  occurred 
a  repetition  of  the  scenes  I  have  described.  No  doubt  that 
riot,  and  the  persecution  I  suffered  in  Halifax,  which  I  will 
give  an  account  of,  resulted  in  preventing  any  serious 
trouble  of  the  kind  since,  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  other  Maritime 
Provinces.  I  may  say  here  that  the  wrath  of  man  seems  in 
this  case  to  have  been  overruled  for  good.  Such  conflicts 
may  be  regarded  as  so  many  battles  for  libetty  of  conscience 
and  free  speech. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

My  Re-Baptism 

Baptism  is  recognized  in  the  Romish  Church  as  an  ordi- 
nance, and  one  of  her  seven  sacraments.  But,  like  other 
dogmas  of  that  Church,  it  has  been  grossly  perverted  and  cor- 
rupted. It  was  originally  a  simple  and  expressive  ordinance 
sanctioned  by  Christ.  It  was  designed  as  a  symbol  to  repre- 
sent a  fact — the  inward  spiritual  change  effected  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  But  in  the  Church  of  Rome  the  reality  has  been 
buried  and  lost  sight  of  in  the  mere  form.  There  is  no 
spiritual  efficiency  in  the  water  itself,  nor  is  there  any  evi- 
dence of  any  necessary  supernatural  power  attending  its  ap- 
plication. Baptismal  regeneration  is  not  taught  in  the  Bible, 
and  is  a  corruption  held  among  Romanists  and  ritualists. 
In  Popery  it  is  taught  that  when  the  infant  is  baptized  all 
the  guilt  and  defilement  of  original  sin  are  taken  away  and 
it  becomes  as  pure  as  Adam  when  created.  The  facts,  we 
see,  are  against  this,  for  the  children  who  have  this  excellent 
start  have  an  unspeakable  advantage  above  others,  if  Ro- 
manist teaching  be  true,  and  they  ought  to  be  very  good,  at 
least  much  better  than  others  who  have  not  been  validly  bap- 
tized. But  we  know  that  this  is  not  the  case,  as  they  show 
the  same  natural  depravity  that  others  do. 

It  is  amazing  how  this  Divine  ordinance  has  been  abused 
and  perverted.  I  give  here  some  examples  of  this  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries  in  Can- 
ada. These  seemed  to  be  so  foolish  as  to  think  that  some 
drops  of  water  sprinkled  on  infants  made  them  Christians, 
fitted  them  for  heaven,  without  which  they  would  be  lost. 
Among  these  missionaries  was  Father  Le  Mercier,  whom  I 

246 


My   Re=Baptism  247 

allow  here  to  speak  for  himself.  In  the  Jesuit  Relations  of 
1637,  he  writes: 

*'  On  the  third  of  May,  Father  Pierre  Pijart  baptized,  at 
Anonatea,  a  little  child  two  months  old,  in  manifest  danger  of 
death,  without  being  seen  by  the  parents,  who  would  not  give 
their  consent.  This  is  the  device  which  he  used.  Our  sugar 
does  wonders  for  us.  He  pretended  to  make  the  child  drink 
a  little  sugared  water,  and  at  the  same  time  dipped  the  finger 
in  it.  As  the  father  of  the  infant  began  to  suspect  some- 
thing, and  called  out  to  him  not  to  baptize  it,  he  gave  the 
spoon  to  a  woman  who  was  near,  and  said  to  her,  '  Give  it  to 
him  yourself.'  She  approached  and  found  the  child  asleep; 
and  at  the  same  time  Father  Pijart,  under  pretence  of  seeing 
if  he  was  really  asleep,  touched  his  face  with  his  wet  finger, 
and  baptized  him.  At  the  end  of  forty^eight  hours  he  went 
to  heaven. 

"  Some  days  before,  the  missionary  had  used  the  same  de- 
vice for  baptizing  a  little  boy  six  or  seven  years  old.  His 
father,  who  was  very  sick,  had  several  times  refused  to  re- 
ceive baptism;  and  when  asked  if  he  would  not  be  glad  to 
have  his  son  baptized,  he  answered.  No.  '  At  least,'  said 
Father  Pijart,  '  you  will  not  object  to  my  giving  him  a  little 
sugar.'     'No,  but  you  must  not  baptize  him.' 

"The  missionary  gave  it  to  him  once,  then  again;  and  at 
the  third  spoonful,  before  he  had  put  the  sugar  into  the 
water,  he  let  a  drop  fall  on  the  child,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
nouncing the  sacramental  words.  A  little  girl  who  was  look- 
ing at  him  cried  out:  '  Father,  he  is  baptizing  him!'  The 
child's  father  was  much  disturbed,  but  the  missionary  said  to 
him:  'Did  you  not  see  I  was  giving  him  sugar?'  The 
child  died  soon  after,  but  God  showed  his  grace  to  the  father, 
who^is  now  in  perfect  health.'' 

The  historian  Parkman  writes:  "  Nothing  could  divert  the 
Jesuits  from  their  ceaseless  quest  of  dying  subjects  for  bap- 
tism, and  above  all,  of  dying  children.  They  penetrated 
every  house  in  turn  where,  through  the  thin  walls  of  bark, 


248  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

they  heard  the  wail  of  a  sick  infant;  no  menace  and  no 
insult  could  repel  them  from  the  threshold.  They  pushed 
boldly  in,  asked  to  buy  some  trifle,  spoke  of  late  news  of 
Iroquois  frays — anything,  in  short,  except  the  pestilence 
and  sick  child — conversed  for  a  while  till  suspicion  was  par- 
tially lulled  to  sleep,  and  then,  pretending  to  observe  the  suf- 
ferer for  the  first  time,  approached,  felt  its  pulse,  and  asked 
of  its  health.  Now,  while  apparently  fanning  the  heated 
brow,  the  dextrous  visitor  touched  it  with  a  corner  of  his 
handkerchief,  which  he  had  previously  dipped  in  water,  mur- 
mured the  baptismal  words  with  motionless  lips,  and  snatched 
another  soul  from  the  fangs  of  the  'infernal  wolf.'" 

Here  was  fanaticism  combined  with  deception — a  lack  of 
truthfulness  which  is  characteristic  of  Jesuitism  in  which 
the  end  justifies  the  means — and  thus  relying  on  a  few  drops 
of  water  to  save  a  soul,  and  that  applied  by  lying,  in  words 
and  act.  Yet  those  Jesuit  missionaries  are  often  eulogized 
and  represented  as  model,  self=denying  and  heroic  Chris- 
tian men,  while  at  the  same  time  practising  dark  superstition, 
and  that  by  the  most  flagrant  deception  and  lying. 

The  false  and  superstitious  use  of  baptism  is  carried  on 
at  the  present  time  by  the  Romanists,  and  this  is  an  essential 
element  in  their  missionary  operations.  I  give  here  a 
marked  example  of  this.  The  apostolic  vicar  of  Su=Tehuen, 
in  China,  after  reporting  the  baptism  in  six  years  of  over 
112,815  pagan  children  in  danger  of  death,  and  the  salvation 
of  twothirds  of  these  who  actually  died  the  same  year  they 
were  baptized,  proceeds: 

"  We  pay  faithful  persons,  men  and  women,  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  diseases  of  children,  to  seek  and  baptize 
those  who  are  found  dangerously  ill.  It  is  easy  to  meet  at 
fairs  a  crowd  of  beggars  with  their  children  in  extreme  dis- 
tress. They  may  be  seen  everywhere,  in  the  roads,  at  the 
gates  of  the  towns  and  villages,  in  the  most  needy  condition. 
Our  male  and  female  baptizers  approach  them  with  soothing, 
compassionate  words,  and  offer  pills  to  the  little  sufferers, 


My  Re=Baptism  249 

with  expressions  of  the  most  lively  interest.  The  parents 
willingly  permit  our  people  to  examine  the  condition  of  their 
children,  and  to  sprinkle  on  their  foreheads  some  drops  of 
water,  securing  their  salvation,  while  they  pronounce  the 
sacramental  words.  Our  Christian  baptizers  are  divided 
into  two  classes:  those  who  travel  about  seeking  for  children 
in  danger  of  death,  and  those  who  remain  at  their  posts  in 
the  towns  and  villages,  and  devote  themselves  to  the  same 
work  in  their  respective  neighbourhoods.  I  intend  to  print 
some  rules  for  their  direction,  and  to  stimulate  them  all  in 
their  work. 

"The  expenses  of  the  traveling  baptizers  are  150  francs 
($27.90)  a  year,  including  his  medicines  and  board;  100 
francs  ($18.60)  are  sufficient  for  a  stationary  male  baptizer, 
and  80  or  85  francs  ($15.00  or  $16.00)  for  a  female;  and  yet 
the  number  of  baptizers  is  so  great  that  the  whole  ex- 
pense this  year  (1847)  amounts  to  10,000  francs  ($1,860.00)." 

Rev.  Jacob  Primmer,  in  his  deeply  interesting  book  on 
Romanism,  gives  a  graphic  description  of  a  baptism  he  wit- 
nessed in  Rome,  which  will  illustrate  the  character  of  the 
Popish  superstition.  This  I  here  insert,  which  presents  to 
the  mind  of  the  reader  a  picture  that  deserves  the  name  of 
pagan,  rather  than  Christian: 

A   BAPTISM   IN   ST.    PETER'S 

"  On  the  left,  when  entering  St.  Peter's,  is  a  small  chapel, 
called  the  baptistry.  The  font  consists  of  a  marble  cover  of 
a  pagan  sarcophagus  with  a  bronze  top.  Everything  in 
popish  ceremonial  is  connected  in  some  way  or  another  with 
paganism.  As  we  were  leaving,  at  5:30  p.  m.,  preparations 
were  being  made  for  a  baptism.  We  got  near,  note^^book  in 
hand,  >as  usual,  and  record  as  follows:  Baptism— purses  out 
and  payment  made  to  priest,  who  puts  on  white  cotta,  kisses 
cross  on  red  stole  and  puts  it  on— gets  his  book  and  goes  at 
it  with  rattling  speed— he  remains  outside  the  baptistry  rails 
—blows  on  the  face  of  the  child  to  drive  out  the  devil— takes 


2.50         Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

spittle  and  puts  it  on  chin,  brow  and  mouth,  goes  up  to  the 
font,  anoints  the  child's  head — this  is  how  Papists  are  fab- 
ricated— continues  his  harangue  at  the  same  high  speed — the 
parents  and  godmother  also  rattle  away  as  fast  as  the  priest; 
holy  oil,  holy  salt,  holy  crossings,  very  many;  and  holy  blow- 
ing on  the  face  of  the  infant,  in  order  to  dislodge  the  devil 
supposed  to  be  in  the  infant  instead  of  in  the  priest.  The  priest 
changes  the  red  stole  for  a  white  one,  and  the  father  of  the 
child  holds  a  large  bit  of  candle  lit,  in  his  hand,  while  the 
priest  still  harangues  with  great  rapidity;  the  godmother 
holds  the  child's  head  over  the  font  and  the  priest  pushes  it 
under  the  water  (not  sprinkling  the  head  but  immersing  it). 
Responses  follow,  the  whole  concluding  with  'Amen,'  and 
the  Papist  farce  of  manufacturing  a  Christian  is  over — 
another  coin  is  given  to  the  priest  and  off  the  parties  go. 
The  amazing  thing  is  that  the  child,  while  this  performance 
was  going  on,  never  cried.  The  time  taken  would  be  eight 
minutes.  All  a  farce.  No  sincerity,  no  earnestness.  Evi- 
dently the  endeavor  was  to  see  how  quickly  they  could  get 
through  with  it." 

When  I  left  the  Church  of  Rome  I  was  kindly  advised  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Chicago  to  be  re^baptized.  But  it  seemed 
to  me  then,  as  it  seemed  to  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox  and  many 
others,  that  my  baptism  in  the  Church  of  Rome  was  validly 
conferred.  And,  after  having  heard  my  reasons,  the  Presby- 
tery unanimously  resolved  to  let  me  go  free  on  that  subject. 

After  that  time  many  venerable  brothers  in  Europe,  as  well 
as  on  this  continent,  pressed  me  to  be  re-baptized;  and, 
though  they  did  not  entirely  decide  me  to  do  it,  I  confess 
that  they  much  diminished  my  confidence  in  the  baptism  of 
Rome.  I  had  many  hours  of  anxiety  on  that  subject  for  more 
than  three  years.  And  the  dear  Saviour  knows  that  I  shed 
many  tears  at  His  feet,  when  imploring  Him  to  give  me  more 
of  His  saving  light  on  that  important  matter. 

When  I  preached  in  Antigonish,  the  Romanists  determined 
to  kill  me;  and  I  was  most  cruelly  stoned  by  several  hundred 


My   Re=Baptism  251 

of  them.  Bruised  and  wounded  and  staggering,  I  expected 
at  any  moment  to  fall  down  and  die  by  the  side  of  my  mar- 
tyred friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodfellow,  who  was  himself  ter- 
ribly cut  on  the  head,  and  profusely  bleeding;  when  I  heard 
in  my  conscience,  a  voice  telling  me,  "You  die!  and  you 
are  not  yet  baptized!" 

That  thought  distressed  me  much  in  that  solemn  hour.  I 
escaped  from  my  murderers  in  a  most  providential  way.  I 
promised  to  God  to  study  the  question  of  my  baptism  more 
seriously,  with  His  help;  and  He  knows  that  I  did  it.  But 
though  it  seemed  to  me  more  and  more  every  day  that  the 
reason  for  being  re=baptized  was  stronger  than  I  thought  at 
first,  the  reason  for  considering  my  baptism  valid  in  the 
Church  of  Rome  was  remaining  the  strongest  in  my  mind. 

On  the  twelfth  of  August,  1873,  having  heard  that  many 
citizens  around  St.  Anne  were  to  meet  to  meditate  the  Word 
of  God,  pray,  and  praise  Him,  it  came  to  my  mind  that  it 
would  do  me  good  to  pass  a  few  hours  with  them,  at  the  feet 
of  the  dear  Saviour,  to  look  with  more  attention  than  ever  to 
His  bleeding  wounds  and  to  all  that  He  had  done  and  suf- 
fered for  me,  that  by  His  grace  I  might  love  Him  more  and 
more. 

I  had  never  seen  a  camp-meeting  before,  though  I  had 
heard  much  said  against,  as  well  as  in  favour  of,  such  gather- 
ings. But  God  knows  that  I  went  there  only  with  the  de- 
sire of  drinking  some  drops  of  those  precious  waters  of  life, 
which  our  Saviour  never  refuses  to  the  thirsty  soul  who  goes 
to  Him.  When  I  went  to  that  meeting,  the  question  of  my 
baptism  was  absolutely  out  of  my  mind.  I  heard  several 
very  good  sermons  from  various  Protestant  ministers;  but 
not  a  word  was  said,  that  I  remember,  about  baptism,  except 
that  at  3  p.  m.  we  were  invited  to  pray  for  those  who  were 
to  be  baptized  at  4  p.  M. 

There  were  between  two  and  three  thousand  people  on  that 
most  beautiful  spot;  they  all  knelt  and  prayed.  It  was  a 
most  solemn  thing  indeed  to  see  that  multitude  prostrated 


252  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

before  the  throne  of  grace  and  to  hear  their  ardent  prayers 
their  sobs;  to  see  the  tears  of  those  penitent  and  repenting 
sinners  crying  for  mercy. 

There  was  no  confusion,  as  I  had  expected;  there  were  no 
contortions,  as  I  was  prepared  to  see.  But  there  was  the  most 
sublime  and  soul=stirring  harmony  I  had  ever  seen  in  the 
humble  and  earnest  supplications  of  the  multitudes.  The 
noise  was  grand  and  sublime,  as  the  noise  of  the  deep  waters 
when  the  winds  from  heaven  blow  upon  them.  All  was  grand, 
there,  as  the  works  of  our  God  are  grand  and  sublime  every- 
where. 

In  the  midst  of  that  multitude  I  was  praying  with  all  my 
heart  for  those  who  were  to  be  baptized,  when  a  thought 
flashed  through  my  brain  and  chilled  the  blood  in  my  veins: 
"  You  are  not  baptized,  and  you  pray  for  others,  when  you 
ought  to  pray  for  yourself,  and  be  baptized  to=day." 

I  tried  to  repulse  that  thought  as  I  used  to  by  saying  to 
myself,  "A  priest  of  Rome  has  baptized  me." 

But  that  day  the  voice  of  my  conscience  spoke  as  it  had 
never  spoken.  It  said  as  loud  as  thunder,  "The  priest  of 
Rome  is  not  the  priest  of  the  true,  but  of  the  false  Christ. 
He  is  the  priest  of  the  Christ  kept  in  the  secret  chambers 
(tabernacle).  Matt.  24:23-26.  The  priest  of  Rome  is  the 
priest  of  an  idol  of  bread  made  with  a  little  flour  mixed  with 
some  water,  afterwards  baked.  Have  you  not  made  that 
christ,  yourself,  with  your  hands,  when  a  priest  of  Rome? 
And  that  god  made  with  your  hands  was  he  not  your  only 
saviour  and  god  ?  Do  you  think  the  priests  of  the  idols  of 
China  and  JajDan  can  administer  the  sacrament  of  baptism? 
Would  you  believe  in  the  validity  of  your  baptism  had  that 
sacrament  been  administered  to  you  by  a  priest  of  the  heathen 
Emperor  of  China?  But  what  is  the  difference  between  a 
priest  of  the  Pope  of  Rome  who  worships  a  god  made  with  a 
piece  of  bread,  and  a  priest  of  the  Emperor  of  China  who 
worships  a  god  made  with  a  piece  of  wood?  Is  it  not  the 
same  monstrous  and  damnable  idolatry?" 


My  Re^Baptism  253 

At  first,  I  remained  absolutely  mute  before  this  new  light, 
for  this  light  had  never  come  to  my  mind  with  such  an 
irresistible  power.  But  a  moment  after,  I  said,  "Oh,  my  God! 
I  understand  that  I  am  not  yet  baptized.  At  the  first  meet- 
ing of  my  presbytery  I  will  receive  that  sacrament." 

But  more  quickly  than  lightning  the  voice  of  my  conscience 
answered:  "Will  you  see  the  next  meeting  of  your  presby- 
tery? Are  you  certain  that  you  will  live  tos  morrow?  Canyon 
not  be  carried  away  this  very  night?  And  when  you  know 
that  your  God  wants  you  to  be  baptized  to-day  will  you  resist 
His  will?  Do  you  want  to  expose  yourself  to  die  the  death 
of  a  rebel?" 

This  last  thought  filled  me  with  distress.  I  could  not  con- 
sent to  risk  to  die  a  rebel.  I  determined  to  be  baptized  with- 
out any  delay. 

But  I  was  away  from  my  own  people,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
unorderly  to  be  baptized  by  a  Methodist  when  I  was  a 
Presbyterian,  I  foresaw  so  clearly  the  scornful,  the  perfidi- 
ous, the  false  and  unchristian  interpretation,  the  profane 
remarks  which  would  flow  as  a  deluge  upon  my  devoted  head 
from  those  who  would  not  or  could  not  understand  my 
exceptional  position.  For  a  moment  I  felt  such  a  distress  in 
my  soul  at  the  thought  of  the  unkind  and  unchristian  things 
which  would  be  said,  not  only  by  my  enemies,  but  by  my  mis- 
taken friends,  that  I  again  determined  to  postpone  it  to  the 
next  meeting  of  my  presbytery. 

But  my  accusing  conscience  spoke  again:  "Will  you  have 
more  consideration  and  fear  for  your  friends  and  your  foes 
than  for  your  God?  That  God  says,  '  to=day  be  baptized,' 
To  please  the  world,  will  you  answer,  to>morrow?" 

I  felt  so  ashamed  at  my  sorrow  that  I  put  my  hands  on  my 
face  to  conceal  the  tears  of  regret  which  were  flowing  on  my 
cheeks,  and  more  with  my  sobs  than  with  my  words,  I  said, 
"May  Thy  name  forever  be  blessed,  O!  dear  Saviour,  for 
Thy  long  patience;  yes,  to-day,  with  Thy  grace,  I  will  be  bap- 
tized.    But  before  I  receive  that  baptism  of  water — Oh!  Oh! 


2  54         Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

do  baptize  me  np^ain  with  Thy  Holy  Ghost  and  Thy  blood; 
fill  my  heart  with  more  love  for  Thee." 

I  rose  up,  and  requested  the  people  to  sit  for  a  moment; 
then,  addressing;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foster,  the  respected  Methodist 
pastor  of  Kankakee,  I  told  him,  "Can  you  baptize  a  Presby- 
terian without  affecting  his  connection  with  his  own 
church?" 

He  answered,  "Yes,  sir,  undoubtedly." 

I  then  said,  "  Mr.  Foster,  I  am  a  Presbyterian  minister, 
connected  with  the  noble  Canada  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
I  hope  that  nothing  will  ever  break  the  ties  so  sweet  and  so 
blessed  which  unite  me  with  that  Church.  If  I  were  among 
them,  to=day,  I  would  ask  them  to  baptize  me,  and  they  would 
grant  me  that  favour;  but  I  am  far  away  from  them.  And  I 
must  be  baptized  to=day !  In  the  name  of  our  common  Saviour, 
please  do  baptize  me.  I  was  baptized  by  a  priest  of  Rome, 
the  thirtieth  of  July,  1809;  and  till  this  day  I  sincerely  be- 
lieved that  my  baptism  was  valid.  But  I  was  mistaken.  My 
dear  Saviour  has  done  for  me  what  He  did  for  the  poor  blind 
man  of  the  Gospel.  At  first  I  was  perfectly  blind;  He 
touched  my  eyes,  and  I  could  see  men  as  if  they  were  trees; 
but  Jesus  has  just  now  touched  my  eyes  again,  and  I  see  the 
things  about  the  priests  of  Rome  just  as  they  are.  The  priests 
of  Rome  make  their  own  gods  and  their  own  christs  them- 
selves every  morning  with  a  little  piece  of  bread — they  shut 
up  that  wafer=christ  in  '  secret  chambers '  as  was  prophesied 
by  the  Son  of  God  (Matt.  24: 23-25).  There  the  wafer^christs 
are  often  eaten  by  rats  and  mice.  The  priests  of  Rome  carry 
that  wafer=clirist  and  god  from  house  to  house  in  their  panta- 
loon and  vest  pockets,  through  the  streets  in  their  own  private 
buggies,  and  in  the  railroads,  to  fulfil  the  prophecy  of  Jesus, 
who  says,  '  beware  of  the  false  christs.  Lo,  here  is  Christ  or 
there;  believe  it  not.'     (Matt.  24:  23.) 

"  The  priests  of  Rome  eat  their  christ  every  morning,  and 
often  after  they  have  eaten  him,  they  vomit  him  out  of  their 
sickly  stomachs,  and  they  are  bound  to  eat  him  again.     The 


My   Re=Baptism  255 

priests  of  Rome  are  idolaters.  The  Son  of  God  cannot  allow 
them  to  administer  the  sacraments  of  His  Church. 

"  Besides  that,  the  baptism  which  Rome  gives  is  not  the  bap- 
tism of  Christ;  it  is  quite  another  thing.  Christ  has  ordered 
that  sacrament  that,  by  receiving  it,  we  confess  and  declare 
that  our  souls  have  been  purified  by  His  blood,  shed  on  the 
cross.  But  the  priests  of  Rome  administer  the  baptism  to 
take  away  by  it  the  sins  already  committed  before  its  recep- 
tion. Then,  the  baptism  of  Rome  is  not  a  sacrament;  it  is  a 
sacrilegious  caricature  of  a  sacrament;  it  is  an  insult  to  Christ 
and  His  Church." 

A  few  minutes  later  I  was  kneeling  in  front  of  the  multi- 
tudes, in  the  midst  of  a  great  number  of  people  who  wanted 
to  be  baptized  with  me.  And  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foster  baptized 
us  all. 

I  will  never  sufficiently  thank  my  God  for  what  He  has 
done  in  me  and  for  me,  in  that  most  blessed  hour. 

After  we  were  baptized,  the  ministers  who  were  there  of- 
fered most  fervent  prayers  for  every  one  of  us;  they  put  their 
hands  on  our  heads,  not  as  a  sacramental  sign,  but  as  a  mark 
of  fraternal  Christian  feeling.  But  my  emotions  were  too 
great  and  too  sweet  at  that  solemn  moment  to  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  that  circumstance.  What  I  can  say  is  that  if  all  the 
brethren  and  sisters  who  were  there  praying  around  us  had 
wished  to  lay  their  hands  on  our  heads  when  sending  to  the 
throne  of  grace  their  ardent  supplications,  I  would  not  have 
been  able  to  find  any  fault  in  that;  and  even  to=day,  it  is  im- 
possible for  me  to  see  any  impropriety,  scandal,  or  any  ridi- 
cule, when,  under  the  eyes  of  God  and  man,  such  things  oc- 
curred in  the  midst  of  us,  children  of  that  great  merciful  God. 

I  do  not  say  this  as  an  apology.  An  apology  is  unnecessary 
regarding  such  a  solemn  and  sacred  action.  My  baptism  was 
an  affair  between  my  God  and  me  alone — my  only  regret  was 
that  I  had  postponed  it  so  long,  and  that  uncontrollable  and 
providential  circumstances  had  prevented  me  from  being  bap- 
tized by  one  of  our  Presbyterian  brethren.     But  it  was  the 


256         Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

will  of  God  that  in  this,  as  well  as  in  many  other  things  of 
my  life,  I  could  not  do  my  own  will,  but  I  had  to  do  His  will. 
The  ways  of  God  are  not  the  ways  of  men. 

Since  that  time  it  was  my  privilege  to  attend,  as  a  deputy, 
the  admirable  (I  might  say  the  marvelous)  meetings  of  the 
Evangelical  Alliance  in  New  York.  There  the  Presbyterians, 
the  Methodists,  the  Baptists,  and  the  Episcoijalians  have 
pulled  down,  and  I  hope  forever,  the  walls  of  division  which 
Satan  has  raised  up  among  the  children  of  God,  They  have 
all  eaten  of  the  same  bread,  and  they  have  all  sat  at  the  same 
table,  that  it  might  be  said  of  them:  "They  are  one  bread, 
one  body,  one  heart,  one  Church." 

And  the  whole  world  has  blessed  the  sublime  spectacle  of 
that  unity.  Our  dear  Canada  Presbyterian  Church,  which 
has  tasted  of  the  delicious  fruit  of  that  perfect  unity,  through 
her  representation  at  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  New  York, 
will  not  find  fault  with  her  weakest  child,  if,  in  one  of  the 
most  blessed  hours  of  his  life,  he  has  thought  that  there  is  no 
more  difference  or  division  among  the  Methodist  and  the 
Presbyterian  Churches  of  this  land  of  exile  than  there  will  be 
when,  around  the  throne  of  the  Lamb,  they  will  sing  together 
the  eternal  Alleluia. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

The  Stratagem 

In  the  winter  of  1873,  all  the  priests  of  the  city  of  Montreal 
had  received  the  order  from  the  Bishop  to  prove,  on  the  same 
Sunday,  from  their  pulpit,  the  proposition  of  their  catechism: 
"  That  Mary,  the  mother  of  God,  is  the  most  powerful  inter- 
cessor men  have  in  heaven;  and  we  must  address  ourselves 
to  her,  if  we  expect  to  receive  the  favours  we  ask." 

The  next  Thursday  the  citizens  of  Montreal  could  read  on 
fifty  large  placards,  placed  in  the  most  conspicuous  parts  of 
the  city:  "Mary  cannot  be  the  mother  of  God:  God  has  no 
mother.  Jesus,  and  not  Mary,  is  the  only  one  to  whom  we 
must  address  ourselves  if  we  want  to  receive  the  favours  we 
are  in  need  of.  This  truth  will  be  proved  next  Sabbath  even- 
ing at  the  French  Protestant  Church  of  Craig  Street,  by 
Father  Chiniquy." 

When  on  my  way  to  church  that  evening,  one  of  the  head 
men  of  the  police  stopped  me  on  the  street,  and  said:  "Fa- 
ther Chiniquy,  please  change  the  subject  of  your  address. 
The  French  Canadians  cannot  allow  you  to  speak  against 
'  The  Holy  Virgin  Mary.'  There  will  be  a  terrible  riot  this 
night  to  silence  you,  and  your  life  is  in  great  danger." 

I  answered  him:  "  I  will  not  say  a  word  against  The  Holy 
Virgin  Mary  in  my  address,  I  will  only  refute  and  protest 
against  the  awful  blasphemy  of  your  catechism,  that  Mary  is 
the  mother  of  God,  and  most  powerful  intercessor  man  has 
in  heaven.  If  there  is  a  new  riot  to  take  my  life,  the  Lord 
will  again  protect  me.  My  trust  is  in  Him.  Let  the  police 
of  Montreal  do  their  duty,  and  I  will  do  mine." 

I  found  the  church  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.    To 

257 


258  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

the  best  of  my  ability  I  protested  against  the  impious  doc 
trine  of  Rome  about  the  power  of  Mary  in  heaven,  and  the 
title  of  Mother  of  God  given  her. 
Then  I  read  to  them  the  story  of 

THE  GOOD   SHEPHERD   AND   THE   WANDERING    vSHEEP. 

"Then  Jesus  spake  this  parable  unto  them  saying,  What 
man  of  you  having  an  hundred  sheep,  if  he  lose  one  of  them, 
doth  not  leave  the  ninety  and  nine  in  the  wilderness,  and  go 
after  that  which  is  lost  until  he  find  it?  And  when  he  hath 
found  it,  he  layeth  it  on  his  shoulders,  rejoicing.  And  when 
he  cometh  home,  he  calleth  together  his  friends,  and  neigh- 
bours, saying  unto  them.  Rejoice  with  me,  for  I  have  found 
my  sheep  which  was  lost."     (Luke  15.) 

I  said,  in  substance: 

Let  UB  weigh  each  of  these  words  of  Jesus,  and  meditate  on 
them  with  the  aid  of  His  grace. 

The  good  shepherd  hath  counted  his  sheep;  but  oh!  un- 
fortunately, one  of  them  misses  the  call;  one  of  them  has 
wandered  away  and  is  lost  on  the  way.  This  discovery  is  a 
thorn  which  pierces  his  heart.  He  can  no  longer  rest;  he  is 
uneasy  and  troubled;  and  he  leaves  there  his  ninety  and  nine 
sheep  that  he  loves  so  much,  he  seems  no  longer  to  think  of 
them,  that  he  may  think  only  of  the  sheep  that  has  gone 
astray.  He  runs  after  it;  he  searches  every  place  regardless 
of  trouble ;  and  neglects  no  measure  that  may  put  him  on  the 
track  of  his  dear  sheep.  He  is  wearied  and  exhausted  in  the 
search,  but  no  obstacle  stops  or  disheartens  him.  He  loves 
his  dear  sheep  so  much  that  he  thinks  of  nothing  else.  He 
courageously  continues  to  seek  until  he  finds  it.  He  sees  it 
at  last,  but  in  what  a  state!  Half  dead  with  fatigue,  lacerated 
with  thorns,  its  limbs  torn  by  the  brambles,  and  not  able  to 
go  another  step.  What  does  the  good  shepherd  do  at  the 
sight  of  his  guilty,  but  still  dear  sheep?  Does  he  load  it 
with  reproaches?  Does  he  drive  it  with  a  lash  to  make  it 
walk  and  return  to  the  fold?    No,  no;  the  good  shepherd  has 


The  Stratagem  259 

not  one  thought  of  anger,  not  one  bitter  word  against  his 
dear  sheep.  Its  errors  have  not  in  the  least  diminished  his 
love  for  it.  This  guilty  sheep  has  done  much  to  sad- 
den and  grieve  the  heart  of  the  good  shepherd ;  but  his  heart, 
though  crushed  with  grief,  has  remained  full  of  love  and 
compassion.  He  would  say,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  errors 
and  misfortunes  of  the  poor  sheep  have  only  increased  the 
love  of  the  good  shepherd  towards  it.  He  sees  well  that  it  is 
too  much  exhausted  to  walk  and  return  to  the  fold.  What 
does  he  do?  He  stoops  down  to  it;  he  takes  it  in  his  arms; 
he  presses  it  to  his  heart.  Then  he  puts  it  on  his 
shoulders,  and  behold  him,  bowed  under  his  precious  bur- 
den, carry  back  his  poor  deluded  sheep  to  the  fold!  But  this 
is  not  all.  The  joy  of  the  good  shepherd  is  so  great,  his 
happiness  so  sincere,  that  he  can  no  longer  contain  himself. 
He  shouts,  he  calls  his  friends,  he  wishes  that  the  joy  which 
he  tastes  may  be  shared  by  all  the  world;  he  does  not  allow 
any  one  to  remain  indifferent.  "  Rejoice,"  says  he  to  them, 
"  for  my  sheep,  which  was  lost,  is  found." 

Behold  the  Good  Shepherd  of  the  Gospel!  Behold  Him 
described  by  Himself — this  Saviour  of  the  world,  whose 
blessed  name  makes  every  knee  to  bow  in  heaven,  on  earth, 
and  under  the  earth! 

The  Good  Shepherd — the  crucified  Jesus — whose  Gospel 
we  preach,  is  the  mercy  of  God,  the  boundless  and  the  be- 
nevolence of  the  Eternal,  incarnate  in  the  person  of  the  Sav- 
iour. The  Saviour  of  the  Gospel  is  not  angry,  is  not  in- 
censed against  His  flock,  even  when  they  go  astray.  He  loves 
them  with  a  love  so  great,  so  true,  that  never,  no  never,  will 
saints,  angels  or  virgins  be  capable  of  loving  them  so  much. 
The  Shepherd — the  Jesus  of  the  Gospel — never  met  among 
His  friends  any  one  who  could  love  His  dear  sheep  as  much  as 
He  Himself  does.  He  has  never  permitted,  either  on  earth 
or  in  heaven,  any  one  to  put  himself  between  Him  and  His 
sheep  to  stimulate  Him  to  love  them. 

The  modern  doctrine  of  Kome  which  tells  us  that  the  heart 


26o  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

of  the  Grood  Shepherd  is  so  cooled  and  irritated  against  His 
erring  sheep  that  He  would  forget  them  or  cast  them  off,  if 
the  Holy  Virgin  or  some  of  the  other  saints  were  not  there 
to  remind  Him  of  what  He  has  suffered  for  them,  is  so  absurd 
and  so  wicked,  that  one  cannot  understand  how  so  many 
people  of  intelligence  allow  themselves  to  fall  into  that 
snare. 

For  what  reason  does  the  Holy  Virgin  interest  herself  in 
the  salvation  of  sinners,  more  than  Jesus  Himself?  Why 
should  the  heart  of  Mary  in  heaven  be  more  compassionate 
towards  miserable  sinners  than  the  heart  of  Jesus?  And 
why  should  her  ear  be  more  attentive  to  our  prayers  than 
that  of  the  Saviour?  We  can  never  find  answers  to  these 
questions  within  the  laws  of  common-sense.  Never  shall  we 
be  able  to  find,  in  the  Holy  Scripture,  a  single  word  that  can, 
in  any  manner,  serve  as  an  excuse  or  cloak  for  this  monstrous 
doctrine;  and  it  certainly  insults  the  saints  in  heaven,  as 
well  as  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  to  believe  and  say,  with  the 
Church  of  Rome,  that  our  salvation  does  not  depend  entirely 
on  the  love  and  mercy  of  our  Saviour,  but  that  this  love  and 
this  mercy  of  Jesus  Christ,  being  paralyzed  by  our  sins,  must 
be,  as  it  were,  incited  and  revived  by  the  compassions  and  by 
the  more  active  and  the  more  efficacious  mercy  of  the  saints. 

To  render  the  sacrilegious  worship  which  she  offers  to  the 
saints  acceptable,  and  to  induce  sinners  to  put  all  their  con- 
fidence in  the  Holy  Virgin  Mary,  the  Church  of  Rome 
assures  us  that  our  sins  have  the  effect  of  cooling  the  love 
and  compassion  of  Jesus  Christ  for  us.  But,  then,  the 
Church  of  Rome  ought  to  tell  us  how  it  is  that  our  sins  have 
not  the  same  effect  of  cooling  the  heart  of  the  Holy  Virgin 
and  of  the  saints  who,  according  to  the  Church  of  Rome, 
know  all  that  we  do, 

If,  as  is  no  doubt  the  case,  the  saints  in  heaven  are  united 
in  will  and  sentiment  with  God,  that  which  displeases  God, 
ought  also  to  displease  His  saints;  that  which  saddens  and 
cools  the  heart  of  Jesus  Christ,  ought  equally  to  sadden  and 


The  Sfratagem  261 

cool  the  hearts  of  the  saints  (always  supposing  the  system  of 
Rome  to  be  true,  about  the  pretended  knowledge  that  the  saints 
have  of  everything  that  transpires  on  the  earth),  and  then, 
whilst  Jesus  is  excited  and  angry  in  heaven,  as  the  Popes  of 
Rome  assure  us,  the  saints,  and  especially  the  Holy  Virgin, 
ought  to  partake  and  approve  of  His  wrath,  instead  of  oppos- 
ing it  and  hindering  its  effects. 

Behold  the  misfortunes  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  having  left 
the  Word  of  God,  which  is  the  only  guide  of  the  human  mind, 
to  follow  the  fables  and  traditions  of  men.  She  has  forgotten 
that  Jesus  is  our  intercessor  in  heaven;  not  only  the  inter- 
cessor for  saints,  but  for  sinners;  she  has  forgotten  that  this 
intercessor  is  sufficient,  and  that  consequently  there  is  no  need 
for  another;  she  has  forgotten  that  thousands  and  thousands 
of  times,  Jesus  has  said  to  sinners,  "  Come  to  Me  and  ye 
shall  be  saved."  And  that  He  never  said,  "  Come  to  My 
mother,  or  such  or  such  a  saint,  and  ye  shall  be  saved."  The 
Church  of  Rome  has  forgotten  that  the  name  of  Jesus  is  the 
only  name  that  we  can  call  on  to  be  saved.  She  has  forgotten 
that  St.  Paul,  or  rather  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  the  mouth  of  St. 
Paul,  said,  "For  we  have  not  an  high  priest  which  cannot  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities;  but  was  in  all 
points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin.  Let  us  there- 
fore come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace,  that  we  may  obtain 
mercy,  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need."  (Heb.  4: 
15,  16.) 

The  Church  of  Rome  having,  then,  forgotten  that  Jesus  was 
always  good  and  merciful;  but  believing  and  preaching  to 
the  people,  whom  she  had  deceived,  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
often  angry  with  the  sinner,  and  seeing  that  sinners  need  to 
have  a  Saviour  always  good,  and  always  merciful,  a  Saviour, 
in  a  word,  always  ready  to  receive  those  who  come  to  Him,  is 
bound,  then,  to  invent  and  try  to  find  another  Saviour  than 
this  Jesus,  whom  she  tells  us  is  always  angry. 

Then  she  creates  other  saviours  in  heaven;  she  seeks  other 
friends — other   intercessors — other  advocates,   to   whom   she 


262  Forty  Years  in  the   Church  of  Christ 

has  sacrilegiously  accorded  all  the  goodness,  mercy  and 
unfailing  kindness  of  which  she  has  robbed  the  true  Saviour. 

But  let  us  hope  that  our  brethren  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
will  soon  understand  that  they  are  deceived  by  their  Popes. 
It  is  not  Mary,  but  Jesus,  who  is  the  "  gate  of  heaven,  the 
hope  of  sinners,  and  the  salvation  of  the  world." 

Nothing  could  surpass  the  respectful  attention  of  my  audi- 
tors, though  more  than  the  half  of  them  were  Roman  Cath- 
olics. 

My  hope  was  that  the  threatening  storm  had  vanished  and 
that  there  would  not  be  any  trouble.  But  I  had  again  to  be 
disappointed. 

When  I  was  just  entering  into  my  peroration,  I  felt  as  if 
the  ground  was  shaken  under  my  feet.  It  was  evident  that 
a  great  multitude  of  furious  men  were  rushing  towards  the 
church. 

The  air  was  filled  with  the  cries  of,  "Kill  him!  kill  him!" 
and  a  volley  of  big  stones  broke  almost  all  the  glass  of  the 
windows,  and  fell  on  my  auditors  as  well  as  on  me. 

As  at  the  beginning  of  the  address,  I  had  warned  the 
people  that  there  might  be  some  cries  heard  outside,  and 
some  stones  thrown  at  me,  the  excitement  was  not  so  great  as 
might  have  been  expected.  I  said  to  them:  "Be  calm,  I  am 
the  only  one  the  rioters  want  to  strike,  and  kill,  if  they  can. 
Do  not  trouble  yourselves.  They  will  not  molest  you  if  you 
go  out  of  the  church,  without  any  hurry,  as  fearless  men  and 
women.  Trust  in  the  protection  of  the  God  of  the  Gospel,  of 
whom,  I  hope,  every  one  of  you  is  a  true  servant  and  believer. 
No  doubt  you  will  find  some  brave  policemen  at  the  door  who 
will  protect  you." 

But,  as  the  stones  were  falling  upon  us  thick  as  hail  in  a 
storm,  there  is  no  need  to  say  that  everyone  was  rushing  to 
the  doors  as  quickly  as  possible. 

In  a  very  short  time  I  found  myelf  almost  alone  in  the 
church  with  the  chief  of  the  police. 

"You  see,  Father  Chiniquy,  that  you  should  have  followed 


The  Stratagem  262 

my  advice,  and  changed  the  subject  of  your  address,  or  not 
have  spoken  at  all  this  evening.  I  do  not  conceal  from  you 
that  your  life  is  in  great  danger.  Look  through  this  small 
aperture  of  the  door  and  you  will  see  that  there  are  more  than 
a  thousand  furious  men  whose  determination  is  to  kill  you. 
Do  not  go  out  of  the  church,  for  I  have  only  twenty  police- 
men with  me  to  protect  you.  Remain  in  the  church  the 
whole  of  the  night  and  I  give  you  my  word  of  honour  that 
nobody  will  injure  you;  with  my  men,  well  drilled,  I  can 
repulse  the  multitude  of  rioters,  if  they  want  to  come  into 
the  church;  but  my  men  will  be  powerless  to  protect  you 
if  you  go  out,  they  will  be  overpowered  by  the  thousand  blood:= 
thirsty  would-be  murderers  you  see  in  the  street." 

I  answered  him,  "  I  see  that  you  ignore  that  my  God  is  my 
keeper.  He  is  stronger  than  all  those  furious  men.  He  has 
saved  me  already  from  great  dangers.  He  will  not  forsake 
me  this  night. 

"  That  merciful  God  has  just  given  me  a  plan  which,  I 
hope,  will  save  me  and  confound  my  would=be  murderers,  the 
priests.  For  I  know  it — these  poor,  blind  people  are  sent  by 
their  priests. 

"  I  cannot  consent  to  spend  the  night  here;  though  I  do 
not  know  where  I  can  sleep.  You  see  that  I  am  completely 
disguised.  I  have  changed  my  fur  cap  and  my  fur  coat  with 
a  friend  to  more  easily  fulfil  my  j^lan.  The  entire  crowd  of 
rioters  is  behind  your  twenty  policemen,  just  opposite  the 
door  of  the  church,  in  the  midst  of  the  street.  My  intention 
is  to  go  straight  to  them,  when  leaving  the  church.  They 
all  expect,  no  doubt,  that  I  shall  go  right  or  left  of  the  door 
and  keep  myself  at  the  greatest  distance  possible  from  them. 
When  I  go  straight  to  them,  not  one  of  them  will  suspect 
that  I  am  Father  Chiniquy.  They  all  think  I  am  too  wise  or 
too  cowardly  to  throw  myself  into  the  lion's  jaws.  Follow  me 
at  a  distance  of  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  to  protect  me,  if  you  see 
any  danger,  though  I  do  not  exj)ect  any.  I  will  go  through 
the  crowd  of  rioters,  penetrate  their  ranks  by  pushing,  and  they 


264  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

will  open  and  allow  me  to  pass  as  one  of  your  personal  friends." 

The  chief  of  police  looked  at  me  with  a  smile,  and  said: 
"  You  would  have  made  a  good  general.  I  think  your  strata- 
gem is  as  good  as  it  is  daring.     Let  us  try  it." 

And,  without  a  word  more,  after  asking  the  dear  Saviour  to 
protect  me,  I  left  the  church  at  the  double  quick  and  turned 
my  face  to  the  rioters  who  were  packed,  crying  like  wild  beasts, 
filling  the  air  with  the  most  awful  imprecations  against  me, 
brandishing  their  sticks  above  their  heads,  and  asking  each 
other,  "Where  is  he?     Where  is  he?" 

The  first  I  met  was  a  giant  man,  swearing  like  a  demon 
against  the  Apostate  Chiniquy. 

I  seized  him  by  the  arm  as  roughly  as  I  could  do  it,  shook 
him  and  pulled  him  out  of  my  way,  with  as  much  rudeness 
as  was  possible,  saying,  "  What  are  you  doing  here,  you  band 
of  fools?  Open  your  ranks  to  let  people  pass.  W^liat  right  have 
you  to  obstruct  the  street?     What  is  the  matter  with  you  all? " 

He  answered  me  with  a  curse,  "  We  are  looking  for  the  in- 
famous apostate,  Chiniquy.  I  want  to  dash  out  his  brains 
with  this  stick.  But,  the  coward;  he  is  probably  concealed  in 
the  church  under  some  pew." 

"Chiniquy!  Chiniquy!"  I  said,  "I  have  seen  him  going 
out  of  the  church  in  disguise.  He  is  laughing  at  you  all. 
You  had  better  let  him  alone,  and  go  back  to  your  homes."  I 
had  to  push  the  next  and  the  next,  in  the  same  rough  way, 
and  exchange  words  of  about  the  same  kind,  till  I  had  passed 
through  the  whole  crowd,  and  reached  the  file  of  patient 
hackmen  who  were  peacefully  waiting  behind  the  rioters  for 
customers. 

Addressing  myself  to  one  of  them,  I  said,  "  Take  me  to  St. 
Catherine  Street,  and  when  there  go  to  the  Rev.  Monro 
Gibson.     Do  you  know  the  number  of  his  house?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  good  hackman,  and  ten  minutes  later 
I  was  knocking  at  the  door  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson,  whore  I 
met  with  the  most  fraternal  and  Christian  reception,  and 
where  I  spent  one  of  the  most  peaceful  nights  of  my  life. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

Deplorable  and  False  Liberality  in  High  Protestant  Quarters  with   Respect 
to  the  Church  of  Rome 

The  general  indifference  on  the  part  of  Protestants  to  the 
real  character  and  evils  of  Romanism  arises  largely  from  the 
idea  that  there  is  a  sufficient  amount  of  truth  and  good  in 
that  system  to  justify  its  being  regarded  as  a  Church  of 
Christ.  Cardinal  Manning  truly  stated  that  "  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  either  the  kingdom  of  the  Son  of  Grod  or 
the  masterpiece  of  Satan."  As  it  is  most  manifestly  the  lat- 
ter, it  is  certainly  not  Christianity.  The  conviction  of  this 
must  be  deepened  before  much  efficient  work  is  done  against 
the  diabolical  system.  It  is  sad  to  see  some  prominent  Prot- 
estants taking  a  wrong  position  on  this  subject. 

Rev.  Charles  Hodge  was  a  professor  in  the  Presbyterian 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton  for  about  half  a  century. 
He  was  a  man  of  a  powerful  intellect  and  undoubted  piety; 
but  on  this  subject  he  was  weak,  and  as  his  opinions  had  very 
great  weight  with  many  ministers  and  others,  his  influence 
in  that  direction  was,  to  say  the  least,  unfavourable. 

Virgil  gives  us  the  history  of  a  skilful  mariner,  who,  de- 
ceived by  the  sweet,  but  perfidious  voices  of  the  Sirens,  per- 
ished on  the  rocks  of  Sylla;  so,  when  traveling  on  the  sublime 
and  bottomless  sea  of  Christianity,  it  has  been  my  sad  lot  to 
see  more  than  one  shipwreck  caused  by  the  sweet  but  decep- 
tive voices  Of  the  Siren  of  the  man  of  sin. 

The  venerable  Dr.  Hodge  was  an  example  of  this.  I  give 
here^his  letter  followed  by  my  reply. 

"My  Dear  Sir:— 

"  The  question  proposed  in  your  letter  is  one  to  which  wise 
and  good  men  have  given  different  answers. 

265 


266  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

"  Some  say  that  the  Romish  Church  teaches  serious  error. 
As  the  influence  of  that  Church  is  everywhere,  and  from  its 
nature,  hostile  to  civil  and  religious  liberty,  therefore  it  is 
wrong  to  grant  it  any  voluntary  support  or  direct  encourage- 
ment. 

"Others  say  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
teaches  truth  enough  to  save  the  souls  of  men  (of  which  I 
have  no  doubt);  inasmuch  as  it  proclaims  the  Divine  author- 
ity of  the  Scriptures,  the  obligation  of  the  decalogue  and  the 
retributions  of  eternity;  and  inasmuch  as  it  calls  upon  men 
to  worship  God,  the  Father,  Son  and  Spirit,  it  is  unspeakably 
better  than  no  Church  at  all.  And,  therefore,  when  the  choice 
is  between  that  and  none,  it  is  wise  and  right  to  encourage 
the  establishment  of  Churches  under  the  control  of  Catholic 
priests. 

"  For  myself,  I  take  this  latter  view.  The  principle  cannot 
be  carried  out  that  no  Church  should  be  encouraged  that 
teaches  error.  For  then  we  could  help  none  but  our  own. 
And  the  principle  involves  the  absurdity  that  a  little  error  is 
more  powerful  for  evil  than  a  great  deal  of  truth  for  good. 

"Of  course  public  men  should  act  on  Christian  principles, 
and  if  it  is  wrong  for  a  private  Christian  to  help  a  Catholic 
Church,  it  must  be  wrong  for  a  corporation  to  do  so. 

"  While,  therefore,  I  dread  the  influence  of  the  Romish 
Church,  and  recognize  its  corruptions  in  doctrines  and  wor- 
ship, I  nevertheless  believe  that  it  is  better  that  men  should 
be  Roman  Catholics  than  infidels  or  atheists.  Romanists 
teach  people  to  worship  Christ,  and  to  regard  and  acknowl- 
edge Him  as  the  Salvator  Hominum. 

"  Very  truly  your  friend,  etc., 

"Charles  Hodge." 
"Dear  Sir:— 

"Since  I  accepted,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  the  truth  as 
it  is  in  Jesus,  and  renounced  the  errors  of  Rome,  I  have,  now 
and  then,  heard  many  strange  things  about  the  doctrines  of 
that  Church,  but  nothing  looks  to  me  so  strange  and  sadden- 


False  Liberality  267 

ing  as  the  letter  which  Dr.  Hodge,  of  Princeton,  has  written 
to  approve  the  Protestants  who  build  up  the  Churches  of 
Home.  I  have  just  read  that  letter  in  your  issue  of  the  24th 
of  August.  And  though  it  seems  an  act  of  folly,  on  my  part, 
to  publicly  protest  against  the  views  of  such  a  learned  theo- 
logian, my  conscience  tells  me  it  is  an  imperious  duty  to  raise 
my  voice  against  the  manifest  and  most  dangerous  errors  con- 
tained in  the  document. 

"  If  Dr.  Hodge  had  not  so  many  titles  to  the  respect  and 
gratitude  of  the  Protestant  community,  if  he  were  not  truly 
one  of  the  most  shining  lights  of  our  firmament,  and  if  his 
long  and  matchless  service  in  the  defense  of  the  truth  had 
not  given  him  such  a  title  to  the  confidence  of  us  all,  his  error 
would  not  be  so  fatal  and  deplorable,  and  I  would  remain 
silent. 

"My  humble  position,  my  very  insignificance,  would  be  my 
excuse,  in  my  own  eyes,  for  remaining  as  a  mute  dog  in  the 
presence  of  danger.  Even  to=day  I  am  tempted  to  say  to  my 
alarmed  conscience:  'Hold  your  tongue;  be  still  and  quiet — 
you  are  in  the  presence  of  a  giant — with  a  knock  of  his  little 
finger  he  can  pulverize  you — let  these  errors  go  their  way  and 
spread — you  can't  help:  these  ugly  stones,  coming  down  from 
a  high  mountain,  roll  wnth  irresistible  force — you  will  surely 
be  crushed  down  if  you  are  foolish  enough  to  put  yourself  in 
the  way  and  try  to  stop  them.' 

"  I  see  too  clearly  the  errors  of  Dr.  Hodge.  I  know  too  well 
the  incalculable  injuries  they  will  do  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 
to  allow  myself  to  be  guided  by  any  selfish  fear.  Though  the 
humblest  and  weakest  soldier  of  Christ,  I  have  heard  Him 
say,  to  all  those  who  were  enrolled  under  His  banners,  'Fear 
not.'  Many  times  the  humblest  sentinel,  from  the  ignored 
outpost,  has  saved  the  army  by  sounding  the  alarm  in  time. 

"Dr.  Hodge  gives  three  principal  reasons  for  approving  the 
Protestants  who  build  the  churches  of  Rome:  1st.  The 
Church  of  Rome  teaches  truths  enough  to  save  the  souls  of 
men.     2nd.     It  proclaims  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scrip- 


268  Forty  Years   in  the   Church  of  Christ 

tures — the  obligations  of  the  Decalogue,  etc.  3rd.  The 
Romanists  teach  people  to  worship  Christ  and  acknowledge 
Him  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

"If  these  assertions  are  correct,  Luther,  Calvin,  Knox, 
etc.,  would  be  the  most  guilty  men  of  modern  times,  and  the 
millions  of  martyrs  whom  Rome  has  slaughtered  would  be 
nothing  else  but  rebels  justly  punished.  If  the  Church  of 
Rome's  teaching  can  save  souls,  why  should  we  continue  to 
protest  against  the  great  soul^saving  Church  (?)  and  why  do 
we  not  go  to  the  feet  of  the  Pope  to  make  our  peace  with 
him? 

"  Dr.  Hodge  is  a  mighty  logician,  I  know  it,  and  he  has, 
probably,  many  brilliant  theories  in  store  to  support  his  posi- 
tion. But  the  more  arguments  he  will  bring  to  prove  that 
Rome  is  a  souhsaving  Church,  and  that  she  is  a  true  wor- 
shiijer  of  Christ,  the  better  he  will  prove  that  Luther  and 
Calvin,  with  their  millions  of  Protestant  followers.  Dr.  Hodge 
included,  were,  and  are,  to=day,  the  greatest  fools  and  the 
most  wicked  of  men  for  having  made  so  much  noise,  caused 
so  much  shedding  of  blood,  to  get  out  of  the  chains  of  Rome; 
the  more  he  will  prove  the  verity  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ecker: 
'  Protestantism  is  a  failure.'  And  if  the  learned  theologian 
of  Princeton  can  persuade  the  Protestants  that  they  do  well 
to  build  churches  for  the  Romanists,  the  surer  he  will  make 
the  prophecy  of  the  same  Ecker  good:  'Before  twenty^five 
years  the  United  States  will  be  Roman  Catholic!' 

"  Had  Dr.  Hodge  been,  as  I  have  been,  a  priest  of  Rome  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  he  would  have  spared  his  friends  and 
admirers  the  surprise  and  sadness  we  have  felt  at  his  strange 
views  on  the  matter. 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  I  am  perfectly  sure  of  what  the 
learned  divine  means  by  '  truth  enough  to  save  the  soul,' 
and  I  would  like  to  know  his  mind  more  positively  on  the 
subject.  But  before  I  have  that  favour,  I  must  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  truth,  and  say,  *  After  twenty=five  years  of  ex- 
perience and  study  as  a  priest  of  Rome,  I  do  not  know  a  sin- 


False   Liberality  269 

gle  truth  which  that  apostate  Church  has  kept  intact  and  un- 
mixed with  the  most  diabolical  and  damnable  errors.'  Let 
us  take  the  nature,  eternity,  holiness  and  independence  of 
God,  for  instance,  as  revealed  in  Christ  and  by  Christ.  What 
is  the  god  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  seen  or  known 
through  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation?  A  god  made 
with  a  piece  of  bread  by  a  man!  Just  as  Aaron  took  the 
bracelets  and  the  earrings  of  the  Israelites,  melted  them, 
turned  them  into  a  golden  calf,  and  said  to  the  people: 
'  These  be  thy  gods,  O  Israel,  which  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,'  so  the  priest  of  Rome  says  to  his  servant 
girl:  '  I  want  to  carry  the  good  God  (le  bon  Dieu)  to  a  sick 
man  to-morrow,  but  there  are  no  more  wafers  in  the  taber- 
nacle; make  me  fifty  wafers  or  little  cakes  that  I  may  con- 
secrate them.'  And  the  domestic  mixes  the  flour  with  some 
water,  bakes  the  whole  between  two  red  irons,  on  which  there 
is  a  cross  engraved  with  the  abridged  name  of  Jesus.  Then 
she  takes  her  scissors  and  cuts  those  cakes,  which  are  origin- 
ally about  five  inches  large,  cuts  them  into  small  round 
wafers  about  one  inch  large,  and  respectfully  hands  them  to 
the  priest.  The  next  morning  that  same  priest  takes  those 
small  round  wafers  to  the  altar,  pronounces  five  magic  words, 
and  showing  to  the  people  the  wafers,  which  are  now  turned 
into  as  many  gods,  he  says:  '  This  is  our  God;  this  is  the 
Lamb  of  God  which  takes  away  the  sins  of  the  world;  adore 
Him,'  and  the  whole  people,  with  the  priest  himself,  falling 
on  their  knees  with  their  faces  in  the  dust,  adore  and  worship 
the  new-born  or  new-made  god. 

•'  I  ask  it — where  is  the  difference  between  this  modern 
abomination  and  the  idolatry  of  the  Israelites?  The  only 
difference  is  that  the  Jewish  idolatry  was  of  short  duration; 
they  did  not  stick  to  it,  they  gave  it  up  the  next  day,  and 
shed  tears  of  repentance.  But  the  iniquity,  the  awful  idola- 
try of  Rome  is  a  permanent  fact.  Their  wafer=god,  their  god 
made  by  a  priest,  with  the  help  of  the  servant  girl,  is  the 
basis,  the  life,  the  grand,  constant  and  public  object  of  their 


i']0  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

adoration.  I  know  that  the  Romanists  and  Jesuits  have 
very  curious  though  very  ridiculous  arguments  to  bind  the 
poor  slaves  of  the  Pope,  and  to  prove  to  them  that  the  adora- 
tion of  the  wafer=god  is  not  idolatry.  But  I  hope  that  Dr. 
Hodge  will  not  prostitute  his  high  intelligence  in  attempting 
to  help  the  sophists  of  Rome  in  the  efforts  they  make  to 
prove  to  the  world  that  a  man  can  make  a  wafer,  tur7i  it  into 
God,  and  worship  that  god  which  he  has  just  made  himself, 
without  being  an  idolater.  But  if  Dr.  Hodge  confesses  that 
the  worship  of  the  wafer-god  is  an  idolatrous  act,  how  can  he 
say  that  Rome  teaches  truth  enough  to  save  the  soul? 

"  Through  her  sacrilegious  and  idolatrous  sacrifice  of  the 
mass,  the  Church  of  Rome  has  not  only  dragged  back  the 
modern  world  to  the  idolatry  of  paganism,  but  she  has  added 
the  brutalizing  and  degrading  dogmas  of  the  priests  of  Ju- 
piter and  Venus. 

"During  the  twenty^five  years  I  was  a  priest  of  Rome, 
almost  every  morning  I  had  to  turn  into  a  god  a  wafer  made 
by  my  servant  girl.  I  was  assured  by  my  Church  that  that 
was  my  true  Saviour  and  my  true  God.  After  that,  I  had  to 
eat  it  in  the  same  way  that  I  eat  the  food  which  is  on  my 
table.  And  there  are  more  than  200,000  priests  of  Rome  who, 
to=day,  believe,  and  do  preach,  the  same  monstrous  things. 

"Nay,  you  do  not  probably  see  a  single  priest  in  the  streets, 
or  in  the  cars,  who  does  not  carry  a  dozen  of  those  wafer= 
gods  in  his  vest  or  pantaloon  pockets.  And  we  are  gravely 
told  that  the  church  teaches  saving  truth  about  God!  Well,  if 
the  reverend  theologian  of  Princeton  really  believes  that  the 
priests  of  Rome  have  the  power  to  change  the  wafer  into  his 
very  Saviour  and  God,  why  does  he  not  go  to  worship  Him 
at  the  feet  of  their  altars?  But  if,  as  I  am  certain  of  it,  that 
great  Christian  man  would  prefer  to  be  thrown  into  a  burn- 
ing furnace  rather  than  to  adore  the  wafer-god  of  Rome,  how 
can  he  tell  us  that  it  is  no  sin  to  build  temples  for  such 
a  sacrilegious  and  idolatrous  worship? 

"  We  are  gravely  told  in  that  letter  that  the  '  Romanists 


False  Liberality  271 

teach  Christ,  and  regard  Him  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world.' 
Into  what  strange  delusions  good  and  learned  men  are  apt  to 
fall.  In  writing  these  lines  the  celebrated  theologian,  no 
doubt,  consulted  more  the  kind  disposition  of  his  Christian 
heart  than  his  vast  erudition.  When  the  Protestants  meet 
their  Roman  Catholic  neighbours,  when  they  listen  to  the  in- 
teresting lectures,  or  read  some  of  their  learned  books,  when 
they  see  their  smiling  lips,  their  refined  manners,  they  like 
to  conclude  that  such  amiable  and  learned  men  are  true  wor- 
shipers of  Christ.  It  does  them  good  to  live  in  that  illu- 
sion; they  do  not  even  like  to  hear  anything  contrary  to  what 
they  consider  the  only  charitable  and  Christian  way  to  think 
of  their  neighbours. 

"  So  Rome  has  many  ways  to  deceive  even  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  learned  ones — she  is  so  expert  in  the  art  of  entrajD- 
ping  and  bewitching  souls!  Is  it  not  written  of  that  wonder- 
ful Church  that  it  will  '  come  after  the  working  of  Satan, 
with  all  power  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders,  with  all  deceiv- 
ableness  of  unrighteousness '  ? 

"But  the  kind  and  Christian  though  mistaken  feelings  of 
Dr.  Hodge  and  some  other  Protestants  toward  the  Roman 
Catholics,  will  not  change  the  awful  truth.  The  apostate 
Church  of  Rome  has,  long  since,  forsaken  and  forgotten  the 
real  Divine  Christ  of  the  Gospel,  and  has  forged  another  christ 
to  suit  her  pride,  her  lust  and  her  unquenchable  thirst  of 
power  and  human  glory. 

"  The  Christ  of  the  Gospel  is  the  only  corner-stone  of  His 
church.  The  Church  of  Rome  has  granted  that  privilege  to 
Peter.  The  Christ  of  the  Gospel  is  the  head  of  His  church 
— but  the  christ  of  Rome,  said,  '  It  is  the  Pope  that  is  the 
head  of  the  Church.'  The  Christ  of  the  Gospel  had  promised 
His  Holy  Ghost  to  all  His  disciples,  even  to  the  humblest 
ones,  to  guide  them  in  all  their  ways  and  teach  them  the  sense 
of  His  holy  words.  But  the  christ  of  Rome  has  promised  his 
holy  ghost  only  to  the  Pope,  who  alone  has  the  understand- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.     The 


272  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

c-hrist  of  Rome  says  to  the  sinner,  '  Go  to  Mary  and  you  shall 
be  saved.'  The  Christ  of  the  Gospel  is  the  incarnate  love 
toward  sinners.  He  loves  them;  He  likes  to  be  called  their 
friend,  He  constantly  prays  for  them  with  a  love  and  mercy 
that  no  human  language  can  express.  But  the  christ  of  Rome 
is  constantly  angry  against  sinners — he  would  not  listen  to 
their  prayers:  he  would  shut  his  ears  to  their  humble  suppli- 
cations, if  his  mother  were  not  constantly  reminding  him  of 
the  price  he  had  paid  and  the  blood  he  had  shed  for  them. 
The  Christ  of  the  Gospel  is  God  and  man;  as  God  He  is  as 
eternal  as  His  Father,  He  could  have  no  mother.  But  the 
christ  of  Rome  is  quite  a  modern  god;  he  was  born  about  1900 
years  ago;  his  mother  is  Mary,  who  everywhere  is  invoked 
and  called  the  Mother  of  God  by  the  Romanists. 

"As  Dr.  Hodge  is  a  good  logician,  he  will  easily  find  that  if 
Mary  be  the  mother  of  God,  Saint  Anne,  who  is  the  mother 
of  Mary,  and  Joachim,  who  is  her  father,  must  be  truly  the 
grandmother  and  the  grandfather  of  the  god  of  Rome,  and 
Adam  his  great  grandfather!  A  most  marvelous  fact,  which, 
when  well  understood,  will  make  it  more  Christian  for  the 
Protestants  to  raise  temples  to  a  god  who  has  such  glorious 
grandmothers  and  grandfathers, 

"  It  is  true,  as  Dr.  Hodge  says,  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
calls  her  christ,  '  the  saviour  of  the  world.'  But  this  is  just 
as  when  her  executioners  called  Him,  '  King  of  Israel.'  It 
is  mockery.  For,  the  very  moment  she  has  called  Christ '  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,'  she  goes  to  Mary  and  calls  her,  also, 
'  the  saviour  of  the  world.' 

"Rome  says  most  eloquently  in  many  of  her  books,  that 
Jesus  is  the  hope,  the  refuge,  the  salvation  of  sinners.  But 
this  is  only  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  such  good  and  un- 
suspecting men  as  Dr.  Hodge.  Turn  the  page  and  you  will 
see,  that,  with  still  more  eloquence,  she  calls  Mary  '  the  only 
hope,  refuge  and  salvation  of  sinners—  the  door  of  heaven.' 

"If  some  Popes  tell  you  it  is  through  Jesus  that  every  grace 
comes  to  man,  and  that  He  is  the  surest  foundation  of  our 


False   Liberality  273 

hope,  that  glorious  truth  in  the  Church  of  Rome  is  only  a 
blind  to  deceive — for  many  more  infallible  Popes  will  as- 
sure you,  in  their  infallible  encyclicals,  that  it  is  Mary 
who  is  the  surest  foundation  of  our  hope.  I  will  not  insult 
Dr.  Hodge  by  giving  the  names  of  the  Popes  and  the  docu- 
ments which  proclaim  those  plain,  clear,  blasphemous  doc- 
trines, for  he  knows  them  very  well. 

"The  true  Christ  was  meek,  and  humble,  and  merciful.  He 
rebuked  His  apostles  when  they  wanted  to  punish  those  who 
rejected  Him.  He  proclaimed  liberty  of  conscience  among 
men.  But  the  christ  of  Rome  is  a  bloody  monster,  who, 
through  his  infallible  vicar,  the  Pope,  has  approved  the 
slaughter  of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  covered  Europe  with  rivers 
of  blood  and  tears. 

"No!  the  christ  of  Rome,  with  his  hatred  of  liberty,  his 
constant  oppression  to  every  human  progress,  his  infalli- 
ble Pope,  his  holy  inquisitions,  his  hatred  of  the  Bible,  can- 
not be  the  true  Christ,  who  is  worshiped  at  Princeton 
seminary.  It  is  an  old,  false  god,  smuggled  by  the  Pope 
from  the  old  Pantheon  of  Rome,  presented  to  the  world 
under  the  name  of  Christ. 

"No!  the  christ  whom  I  have  made,  during  the  twenty=five 
years,  with  the  help  of  my  servant  girl,  and  with  a  wafer — the 
christ,  who,  through  his  vicar,  the  Pope,  has  made  me  be- 
lieve the  most  monstrous  lies,  who  has  persuaded  me  that  his 
body,  his  blood,  his  divinity,  could  be  verily  and  substanti- 
ally eaten  by  me,  cannot  be  the  Son  of  the  God  of  truth.  He 
is  the  father  of  lies  and  deception;  and  the  disciples  of  the 
true  Christ,  who  raise  temples  to  the  spurious  christ  of  the 
Popes,  may  be  good,  honest,  sincere  Christians,  but  they  are 
mistaken.  They  give  a  helping  hand  to  the  greatest  enemy 
of  the  Gospel;  they  build  up  the  Bible^burning  Church;  they 
strengthen  those  who,  after  having  destroyed  the  Bible,  will 
not  rest  until  they  destroy  every  vestige  of  liberty  and  true 
Christianity  on  earth,  even  if  they  have  to  wade  up  to  their 
knees  in  the  blood  of  the  disciples  of  the  Gospel.     The  Prot- 


274  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

estants  who  build  up  the  Church  of  Rome  give  help  and 
strength  to  the  enemy. 

"Rev.  Dr.  Hodge  says  of  the  Church  of  Rome:  '  She  pro- 
claims the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures,'  and  he  takes 
that  as  his  ground  for  approving  those  who  build  up  the 
churches  of  the  Pope.  What  would  the  good  doctor  think 
and  say  were  I  to  go  to  him  with  a  golden  cup  half  filled 
with  the  purest  water,  but  after  having  put  as  much  arsenic 
as  there  is  water  in  the  cup,  I  would  tell  him :  '  Please,  sir, 
drink,  this  is  good  and  refreshing  water'?  Would  he  not 
repulse  me  with  horror,  and  justly  call  me  a  murderer? 

'*  Now,  what  is  the  Church  of  Rome  doing  with  the  Gospel? 
Does  she  not  oflPer  it  to  the  people  only  after  she  has  mixed 
it  with  her  poisonous  tradition?  Does  not  the  Church  of 
Rome,  in  the  most  absolute  and  positive  way,  say  that  the 
written  Gospel  (which  we  call  the  Scriptures)  is  only  a  part, 
an  unfinished  fragment,  of  the  Gospel?  Can  Dr.  Hodge  ig- 
nore that  the  Council  of  Trent  has  put  the  tradition  (which 
they  call  the  unwritten  gospel)  on  a  level  with  the  written 
Gospel;  that  the  one  is  of  as  much  Divine  authority  as  the 
other;  and  that  the  Roman  Catholic  is  not  allowed  to  drink 
the  waters  of  life,  except  when  mixed  with  the  deadly 
poison — arsenical  preparations — of  Popery? 

"  The  learned  theologian  says  that  Rome  proclaims  the  Di- 
vine authority  of  the  Scriptures,  but  he  forgets  that  it  is 
only  on  condition  that  we  receive  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the 
light  of  Romish  tradition.  For  Rome  proclaims  the  Divine 
authority  of  the  Scriptures,  but  only  with  the  condition  that, 
under  that  name,  we  accept  the  Divine  origin  and  authority 
of  the  traditions  about  Purgatory,  Transubstantiation,  Indul- 
gences, Auricular  Confession,  Immaculate  Conception,  Infal- 
libility of  the  Pope,  etc.  Does  he  really  accept  the  meaning 
which  that  Church  attaches  to  the  Word  of  God — Holy 
Scriptures?  Does  he  believe  that  by  rejecting  the  authority 
of  the  one,  he  rejects  the  authority  of  the  other?  Then  he  is 
a  good  Roman  Catholic;  he  is  all  right  when  he  takes  the 


False   Liberality  275 

side  of  the  priests  of  Rome,  and  approves  the  Protestants 
who  spend  money  in  building  the  churches  of  the  Pope. 
But  if  he  rejects  with  horror,  from  his  lips,  the  golden  cup 
which  Rome  offers  her  blind  slaves,  then  he  is  wrong.  The 
mistake  of  Dr.  Hodge  is  very  common  among  the  honest  and 
unsuspecting  Protestants  of  the  United  States.  They  too 
easily  forget  that  the  Church  of  Rome  very  often  says  one 
thing  and  means  another  quite  different.  When  she  speaks 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  an  apparent  respect,  and  pro- 
claims their  divinity,  many  think  that  she  means  only  that 
blessed  Word  of  God  which  is  contained  in  the  Holy  Bible, 
such  as  they  have  at  Princeton  College.     But   it  is  not  so. 

"  When  Rome  speaks  of  the  Word  of  God,  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, she  means  the  Scriptures  transmitted  through  the 
written  and  unwritten  tradition.  She  means  the  Apocrypha, 
purgatory,  celibacy,  absolution,  mass,  holy  water,  works  of 
supererogation,  worship  of  Mary,  infallibility,  etc. 

"  She  pretends  to  have  the  greatest  respect  for  those  two 
things  when  perfectly  united  in  one  body  of  doctrine.  But 
she  does  not  conceal  her  implacable  hatred  of  the  true  Scrip- 
tures, the  Bible,  as  Dr.  Hodge  has  it  in  his  hands.  That 
learned  man  seems  to  ignore  that  the  Scripture,  the  Bible, 
separated  from  the  traditions  and  the  Romish  commentaries, 
is  absolutely  declared  a  dangerous,  a  soul-destroying  book  by 
Rome,  and  the  Council  of  Trent  has  forbidden  the  people  to 
read  it  in  their  mother  tongue.  He  also  seems  to  have  forgot- 
ten that  the  Bible  Society,  whose  object  is  to  give  the  Holy 
Scriptures  unmixed  with  traditions,  notes  and  comments,  has 
been,  time  after  time,  declared  by  the  infallible  Church  of 
Rome  to  be  an  instrument  of  the  devil  to  destroy  the  souls  of 
men.  No  doubt  the  book  of  the  index  expurgatory  of  Rome 
is  in  the  library  of  Princeton.  Then  let  him  consult  the  long 
list  of  books  forbidden  for  their  impiety  and  immorality  and 
he  will  find  that  his  Bible  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list. 
Let  him  consult  the  pages  of  the  history  of  France,  Italy, 
Spain,  Ireland,  England,  Canada,  and  even  the  history  of  the 


1276         Forty  Years  In  the  Church   of  Christ 

United  States,  and  he  will  see  that  Rome,  as  often  as  she 
has  found  her  opportunity,  instead  of  proclaiming  the  Di- 
vine authority  of  the  true  and  unmixed  Scriptures,  has 
burned  and  destroyed  them,  as  we  burn  and  destroy  a  viper. 
Yes,  let  him  open  the  store  of  his  memory  and  vast  science, 
and  he  will  remember  that,  not  only  Rome  has  destroyed  the 
true  and  undefiled  Holy  Scriptures  every  time  she  could  do 
it  safely,  but  she  has  invariably  condemned  to  death  those 
who  have  been  found  guilty  of  reading  the  Bible. 

"  The  memory  of  Dr.  Hodge  cannot  be  so  bad  as  to  have 
made  him  forget  that  the  Madiai  of  Florence,  and  the  twelve 
noble  young  men  in  Spain,  only  yesterday,  were  condemned 
to  death  by  the  Holy  Inquisition  for  the  unpardonable  crime 
of  having  the  Bible  and  reading  it. 

"  That  great  theologian,  following  more  the  instincts  of  his 
kind  nature  and  Christian  feelings  than  the  teachings  of 
history,  assures  us  that  the  Church  of  Rome  *  proclaims  the 
Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures' !  Yes,  by  putting  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  the  '  Index,'  at  the  head  of  the  most 
damnable  books  which  hell  ever  inspired! 

"  Rome  proclaim  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures!  Yes,  by 
torturing  in  her  dark  and  filthy  dungeons;  slaughtering  on 
her  gibbets;  burning,  in  her  auto  da  f6,  the  disciples  of  the 
dear  Saviour,  who  dare  to  read,  love  and  follow  those  Holy 
Scriptures.  Rome  proclaims  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures, 
says  Dr.  Hodge.  Yes,  says  the  history  of  these  last  thousand 
years;  yes,  answer  millions  of  martyrs,  she  proclaims  and 
acknowledges  the  divinity  of  the  Scriptures,  just  as  the  Jews 
acknowledged  and  proclaimed  the  divinity  of  Christ,  by 
spitting  in  His  face,  nailing  Him  on  a  cross  as  a  criminal, 
and  killing  Him  between  two  thieves. 

"  There  are  many  deplorable  things  to  be  seen  among  the 
Protestants  of  the  United  States.  But  one  of  the  most 
deplorable  is  the  fatal  tendency  of  so  many  to  ignore  the 
great  apostasy  and  abominations  of  Rome.  In  Europe,  where 
Rome   is  better   known.  Principal  Cunningham  called  that 


False  Liberality  277 

church  '  the  master-piece  of  Satan ' — and  surely  she  is  the 
master^piece  of  Satan.  But  what  a  sad  spectacle  we  have 
under  our  eyes  on  this  continent!  Almost  everywhere  the 
Bible==burning  Church  of  the  Pope,  instead  of  being  sternly 
opposed  by  the  children  of  God,  is  petted,  helped  and 
enriched,  encouraged,  strengthened,  and  praised  by  the 
greater  part  of  them.  Everywhere,  with  very  little  exception, 
the  Protestants,  shutting  their  eyes  to  the  silent  but  rapid 
progress  of  Rome,  sleep  when  the  enemy  is  raising  and  arming 
his  impregnable  citadels,  training  his  skilful  legions,  and 
sharpening  his  sword  for  the  approach  of  the  inevitable 
contest. 

"  But  there  will  soon  be  an  awakening,  and  it  will  be 
a  terrible  one.  When  the  Protestants  see  the  extent  of 
their  incredible  folly  in  so  betraying  the  interests  of  truth 
and  liberty  into  the  hands  of  their  greatest  enemy,  it  will  be 
too  late!  There  will  be  then  a  Roman  Catholic  President  in 
Washington.  The  armies  of  the  Great  Republic  will  then  be 
commanded  by  Roman  Catholic  generals  and  officers;  the 
fleets  will  be  commanded  by  Roman  Catholic  admirals,  and 
the  fortresses  will  be  in  the  hands  of  Roman  Catholic  traitors. 
Then  the  treasure  and  the  immense  resources  of  this  magnifi- 
cent country  will  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  Jesuits,  at  the 
service  of  the  Pope,  and  the  flag  of  liberty  will  be  trampled 
in  the  dust.  Then  the  American  people,  who  are,  to=day,  sold 
into  the  hands  of  Rome  by  their  politicians,  and  lulled  to 
sleep  by  their  theologians,  will  understand  that  when  Rome 
speaks  of  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures  it  only 
means  that  the  Bible  must  be  dragged  out  of  the  schools,  and 
torn  away  from  the  hands  of  the  old  and  young,  to  make  a 
bonfire. 

"  There  are  two  things  which  Rome  hates  with  an  implacable 
hatred.  They  are  the  Bible  and  liberty.  At  any  cost,  Rome 
is  bound  to  fight  down  these  two  things,  till  they  are  com- 
pletely destroyed.  But  the  more  she  hates  our  dear  Bible 
and  our  glorious  liberty,  the  more  she  conceals  her  hatred 


278  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

under  the  most  deceptive  words,  and  the  most  fictitious 
demonstrations  of  love  and  respect.  It  is  just  when  she  lays 
the  surest  and  most  perfidious  plans  to  drag  away  the  Bible 
from  tbe  school  and  the  private  house  that  she  proclaims  most 
eloquently  its  Divine  authority,  just  as  the  murderer  puts 
on  a  smilini^  face  at  the  approach  of  his  victim  the  better 
to  prevent  him  from  being  on  his  guard.  Thanks  to  the 
betrayals  of  the  politicians,  and  the  delusions  of  the  theolo- 
gians, except  God  makes  a  miracle  of  it,  the  Bible  and  liberty 
are  doomed  in  the  United  States. 

"  Till  lately  I  have  had  my  doubts  about  that  deplorable 
issue.  But  these  last  few  years  study  of  things  and  men  here 
makes  it  impossible  to  entertain  any  doubt  about  it.  Blind, 
indeed,  must  be  the  man  who  does  not  see  the  portentious 
signs  which  foretell  that  the  days  of  liberty  are  numbered,  and 
will  be  very  short.  With  the  hundred  thousand  Protestants, 
who  give  their  daughters,  their  sons,  and  their  money  to  the 
Jesuits,  and  with  the  connivance,  the  silence,  if  not  the  pub- 
lic approbation  of  thousands  of  ministers  who  dare  not  speak 
out,  Rome  is  raising  her  proud  banner  on  every  hill,  in  every 
valley,  of  the  United  States. 

"See  how  Rome  is  ruling  in  the  midst  of  all  our  great 
cities,  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco;  from  Quebec  to  San 
Jago.  It  would  require  the  united  efforts,  the  stern  energies, 
of  all  the  disciples  of  the  Gospel  to  put  a  stop  to  the  giant 
power  and  aggressive  work  of  Rome;  but,  instead  of  trying 
to  defeat  the  public  and  grand  conspiracy  of  Popery  against 
liberty  and  the  Bible,  the  Protestants,  with  few  exceptions, 
are  vying  with  each  other  who  will  most  efficiently  give  aid 
and  comfort  to  the  enemy. 

"  Does  Dr.  Hodge  take  the  ground  that  the  Church  of  Rome 
proclaims  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures?  But  there 
is  not  a  student  at  Princeton  who  does  not  know  that  the 
faith  of  Rome  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the  so=called  proc- 
lamation of  their  Divine  authority,  are  founded  on  what  the 
logicians  call  a  vicious  circle. 


False   Liberality  279 

"  Does  not  Rome  boast  that  she  receives  the  Holy  Scriptures 
because  they  point  to  her  as  the  only  infallible  Church,  when, 
in  the  meantime,  she  refers  us  to  those  Scriptures  to  prove 
the  title  she  has  to  the  supreme  respect  and  submission  of  the 
nations?  I  ask  my  intelligent  readers,  what  is  all  that  bom- 
bast of  Rome  about  her  faith  in  the  dignity  of  the  Scriptures, 
if  it  is  not  a  castle  built  in  a  misty  cloud  high  in  the  air? 
Who  can  believe  in  the  divinity  of  a  thing  in  favour  of  which 
not  a  single  reason  can  be  given  which  can  be  accepted  by 
common=sense?  Who  will  believe  Rome,  proclaiming  the 
Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  when  she  has  no  other 
argument  or  reason  to  our  intelligence  than  a  vicious 
circle ! 

"  Though  there  is  a  great  deal  of  show  in  the  Church  of 
Rome  there  is  no  real  faith  even  among  the  priests.  The 
little  faith  which  remains  has  no  more  solidity  than  the 
building  raised  on  quicksand.  From  the  highest  to  the 
lowest  ranks  of  Rome,  with  very  few  exceptions,  infidelity 
and  skepticism  are  the  rule;  very  few,  to=day,  even  among  the 
priests  of  that  apostate  Church,  care  anything  for  the 
Scriptures. 

"They  do  not  ask, 'What  saith  the  Lord?'  but  they  ask, 
'  What  saith  the  Pope?'  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  so  pro- 
found a  logician  as  the  celebrated  theologian  of  Princeton  to 
understand  that  with  an  '  infallible  Pope  '  there  is  no  need 
of  an  infallible  Bible.  It  is  just  because  the  Scriptures 
ceased  to  be  an  authority  in  the  Church  of  Rome  that  it  was 
found  necessary  to  provide  another  authority  to  guide  the 
human  intellect.  As  the  Holy  Bible  had  ceased  to  be  the 
oracle,  the  source  of  truth  among  the  Roman  Catholics,  it  was 
a  question  of  life  or  death  to  find  or  invent  a  new  oracle,  a 
new  fountain  of  truth  and  life.  Yes,  it  became  a  necessity  to 
proclaim  an  infallible  Pope  the  very  day  that  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures had  ceased  to  be  an  infallible  guide.  Many  have  mis- 
understood the  terrible  logic  which  forced  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics, almost  in  spite  of  themselves,  to  proclaim  the  infallibil- 


2  8o         Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

ity  of  the  Pope.  To  every  serious  thinker,  the  proclamation 
of  the  dop;ma  is  the  most  natural  and  most  logical  fact.  These 
last  ten  centuries  the  Roman  Catholic  nations  have  sternly, 
but  in  vain,  tried  to  resist  the  logical  consequences  of  the 
false  and  anti^Christian  principles  which  their  Church  had 
accepted  as  Divine  truths.  The  proclamation  of  the  infallibil- 
ity of  the  Pope  is  not  only  the  logical  consequence  of  the  re- 
jection of  the  Divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  Church 
of  Rome,  it  is  also  the  last  and  ultimate  effort  of  that  ai)ostate 
Church  to  get  forever  rid  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  every  page 
of  which  she  finds  her  condemnation  written.  From  the  pro- 
found thinker,  Bossuet,  to  the  learned  Montalembert,  many 
intelligent  Roman  Catholics  had  foreseen  and  foretold  that 
the  proclamation  of  the  infallibility  would  be  a  death  blow  to 
the  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  would  sweep  away  the 
last  Christian  principle  from  their  Church. 

"  But  logic  is  stronger  than  men.  When  men,  in  a  moment 
of  blindness,  have  accepted  a  false  principle  to  replace  a 
Christian  one,  which  they  have  rejected,  they  are  dragged,  in 
spite  of  themselves,  into  its  fatal  consequences.  By  admit- 
ting the  divinity  of  traditions  which  were  opposed  to  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  Roman  Catholics  had  prepared  for  the 
rejection  of  the  authority  of  those  infallible  oracles,  and  the 
necessity  of  finding  some  other  infallible  guide. 

"  From  one  abyss  the  Roman  Catholics  had  fallen  into  a 
profounder  one,  with  the  same  fatal  necessity  and  irresistible 
law  by  which  a  stone  must  roll  to  the  bottom  of  the  pit  the 
very  moment  the  crumbling  support  on  which  it  rested  on  the 
side  of  the  precipice  had  been  removed. 

"By  proclaiming  the  Divine  authority  of  the  tradition  which 
gives  an  infallible  Pope,  and  by  accepting  that  man  as  equal 
to  God  in  wisdom  and  science,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
has  fallen  to  the  bottom  of  an  unfathomable  abyss.  Human 
folly  and  depravity  could  not  go  further.  The  last  link  which 
united  Rome  to  the  Christian  world  has  been  cut.  It  is  no 
more  from  Christ,  speaking  to  him  through  the  Holy  Ghost 


False   Liberality  2,81 

in  the  Scriptures,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  will  receive  the 
truth — it  is  from  the  Pope.  By  taking  away  the  corner-stone, 
Christ,  whom  the  Father  had  laid  as  the  foundation  of  His 
Church,  in  order  to  give  place  to  her  infallible  Pope,  Rome 
has  renewed  on  earth  the  awful  rebellion  of  Lucifer  in 
heaven. 

"And  the  Protestants  who  build  the  church  of  this  modern 
Lucifer,  like  those  who  approve  them,  may  be  honest  and 
learned  but  they  are  mistaken  men.  They  give  help  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy.  They  are  of  those  for  whom  Christ 
said  on  the  cross:  'Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what 
they  do.' 

"C.  Chiniquy." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

A  Presbyterian  Minister  Approves.     The  Romanists  Condemn 
and  Persecute 

In  1876  I  spent  some  days  in  Halifax,  N.  S.,  where  I  spoke 
in  Fort  Massey  Presbyterian  Church. 

The  Pastor  was  the  Rev.  R,  F.  Burns,  D.  D.,  and  his  con- 
gregation was  large  and  influential  in  the  city.  He  was 
thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  me  and  my  work,  and  was 
made  up  of  the  stern  material  which  characterized  his  ances, 
tors  in  Scotland,  the  Covenanters.  He  had  no  sympathy  with 
the  name  Protestantism  which  does  not  earnestly  and  prac- 
tically protest.  He  was  told  before  the  meeting  in  his  church 
that  there  would  be  a  disturbance  from  the  Romanists,  which 
he  was  reluctant  to  believe;  but,  let  the  apprehension  of 
trouble  be  what  it  might,  he  was  not  going  to  shrink  from 
having  a  Presbyterian  minister  speak  in  his  pulpit,  in  a  city 
and  country  where  the  British  flag  waves,  which  means  civil 
and  religious  liberty. 

The  people  came  pouring  into  the  church  at  the  appointed 
time  until  it  was  packed,  and  there  being  a  large  crowd  at  the 
the  doors,  who  could  not  find  room,  it  was  concluded  to  close 
them.  A  crowd  of  Romanists  collected  around  the  church 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  preventing  the  ajwstate  Chiniquy 
from  preaching  against  Popery.  During  the  service  there  was 
constant  commotion,  there  was  8tone4hrowing,  and  panes 
were  smashed.  Again  and  again  large  stones  crashed  through 
the  windows.  The  Pastor,  Dr.  Burns,  declared  that  such  at- 
tacks were  a  scandal  upon  the  common  freedom  of  speech 
and  worship.  After  other  plain  and  pointed  remarks  from  the 
doctor,  I  arose  and  said  that  what  we  needed  was  a  dozen  of 
Orangemen  to  go  out  and  clear  the  street.     The  disturbance 

282 


Friends  and  Foes  283 

continued,  but  the  meeting,  though  disturbed,  was  not  broken 
up,  and,  after  a  collection  was  taken,  it  closed  about  ten  o'clock. 
There  was  intense  excitement  inside  and  outside  the  church. 
A  band  of  ruffians  laid  wait  by  the  front  door. 

Dr.  Burns,  myself,  and  several  friends  passed  out  by  a  side 
door.  The  rioters  soon  discovered  this  and  followed,  throw- 
ing stones  and  snowballs.  I  was  struck  several  times.  Dr. 
Burns  with  several  friends  took  refuge  in  a  friendly  house  at 
the  head  of  Tobin  street.  The  crowd  increased  and  two  hun- 
dred of  my  friends,  principally  orangemen,  formed  in  close 
order  and  came  to  the  rescue.  We  proceeded  to  the  Halifax 
Hotel,  pursued  by  a  howling  mob. 

When  we  were  about  half  way  the  rioters  resorted  to  a  ruse, 
and  separated,  so  as  to  more  successfully  close  in  on  me  and  my 
friends,  and  if  possible  hustle  and  crowd  us  into  the  harbour. 
Near  the  hotel  the  cry  was  raised,  "  Chiniquy  is  here!"  Then 
stones  and  sticks  were  freely  used,  by  which  I  was  struck 
several  times.  I  entered  by  a  private  door,  and  the  stones 
came  showering  after  me  as  I  went  in.  An  empty  bottle 
struck  a  young  man  and  cut  him  badly. 

My  head  and  arms  were  bruised,  but  my  injuries  were  not 
serious. 

No  arrests  were  made  at  the  time. 

Of  course  this  persecution,  though  not  openly  defended  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  priesthood,  was  "  allowed,"  and  was  not 
frowned  down  as  might  and  ought  to  have  been,  were  the 
priests  true  friends  of  liberty  and  order. 

Such  is  a  fine  example  of  the  freedom  Romanists  claim  for 
themselves  but  deny  to  others,  even  in  a  land  where  they 
have  full  freedom  to  worship  without  molestation. 

It  is  with  satisfaction  I  record  that  public  opinion  in  Nova 
Scotia  so  emphatically  condemned  my  ruthless  persecutors 
that,  though  afterwards  I  revisited  Halifax  frequently  and 
addressed  many  meetings  in  the  city  and  in  very  many 
churches  throughout  the  country,  no  attempt  was  ever  made 
to  disturb  my  meetings  or  to  injure  me  in  any   way.     Even 


284  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

the  Orangemen  have  safely  marched  in  i^rocession  through 
the  streets  of  Halifax;  and  freedom  of  speech  and  religious 
liberty  have  thus  been  happily  vindicated.  What  is,  thus,  true 
of  Halifax  and  Nova  Scotia,  is  true  of  many  other  places — 
cities  and  rural  districts  in  Canada,  in  Australia,  in  the 
British  Isles  and  even  in  the  United  States. 

Dr.  Burns  preached  and  published  a  sermon,  soon  after, 
called  out  by  the  riotous  demonstration.  It  was  on  the  text: 
"  Be  it  known  unto  thee,  O  king,  that  we  will  not  serve  thy 
gods,  nor  worship  the  golden  image  thou  hast  set  up."  In 
the  discourse  he  drew  a  comparison  between  the  Babylon  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  Babylon  of  Popery.  He  proved 
that  there  was  a  close  correspondence  between  them. 

This  sermon  of  Dr.  Burns  was  so  timely  and  outspoken, 
that  I  give  several  ijassages  from  it  which  I  feel  sure  my 
readers  will  appreciate.  If  we  had  more  such  fearless  and 
heroic  men  in  our  pulpits,  Rome  would  not  stalk  forth  with 
such  a  bold  front  as  she  now  does. 

"  Even  now  may  the  handwriting  on  the  wall  of  the  Vati- 
can be  discovered — distinct  as  that  which  formerly  paled 
the  faces  and  paralyzed  the  frames  of  the  giddy  and  godless 
revellers  in  the  palace  of  Babylon.  When  she  is  saying — 
'  Peace  and  safety,  sudden  destruction  will  come  upon  her,' 
and  the  world  echoes  the  doleful  dirge,  '  Babylon  the  great 
is  fallen,  is  fallen.'     May  the  Lord  hasten  it  in  His  time. 

"  Our  subject  admits  of  a  ready  application  to  the  scenes  of 
Monday  evening — a  night  much  to  be  remembered  in  the 
history  of  our  city  and  Church.  How  singular  the  contrast 
a  few  brief  hours  brought  round! 

"  We  thought  not  last  Sabbath,  when  encircling  so  peace- 
fully and  profitably  a  communion  table,  that  it  was  to  turn 
out  a  table  spread  for  us  in  the  presence  of  our  enemies,  and 
that  our  blood  was  so  near  being  mingled  with  our  sacrifice. 

"Hitherto  we  had  known  nothing  but  peace  within  and 
around  these  walls,  but  it  seemed  as  if  the  Lord  were  coming 
not  to  send  peace  but  a  sword,  and  as  if  judgment  were  going 


Friends  and  Foes  285 

to  begin  at  the  house  of  God.  Should  the  uppermost  feel- 
ing with  us  be,  '  An  enemy  hath  done  it,'  let  us  feel  it  right  to 
be  taught  even  by  an  enemy.  Nor  let  us  be  unmindful  of 
the  higher  uses,  for,  '  Is  there  evil  in  the  city,  and  the  Lord 
hath  not  done  it?  '  He  permits  what  He  does  not  sanction. 
And,  'We  have  seen  the  end  of  the  Lord,  that  the  Lord 
is  very  pitiful  and  of  tender  mercy.'  For  we  have  found 
abundant  reason  to  sing  of  mercy  as  well  as  of  judg- 
ment, and  to  conclude  that  the  things  which  have  hap- 
pened to  us  will  turn  out  rather  to  the  furtherance  of  the 
Gt)spel. 

"  Very  plainly  has  it  been  made  to  appear  that  the  wrath  of 
man  worketh  not  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  with  equal 
distinctness  that  God  can  make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise 
Him,  while  He  restrains  the  remainder  thereof. 

"  We  are  thankful  that  the  venerable  preacher  was  un- 
harmed during  the  service,  and  sustained  no  very  serious  in- 
jury afterwards.  We  are  thankful  that  the  audience  behaved 
so  well,  considering  the  noisy  demonstrations  outside  and  the 
repeated  assaults  made  on  the  building.  In  circumstances 
less  critical,  and  with  no  such  dense  masses  collected,  there 
have  arisen  panics  that  have  issued  in  results  most  disastrous. 
We  feel  thankful  that  the  hostile  elements  inside  were  kept 
under  control  through  the  force  of  superior  numbers,  and  the 
fear  of  immediate  exposure  and  expulsion.  We  are  thank- 
ful for  the  part  the  press  has  taken,  and  the  determination 
evinced  by  our  public  authorities  to  prosecute  the  investiga- 
tion, and  to  bring  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrage  to  justice. 
We  are  thankful  for  the  efficient  aid  rendered  by  those  out- 
side ourselves,  and  for  the  sympathy  expressed  by  the  other 
churches  throughout  the  city.  We  are  thankful  that  the 
Protestant  pulse  amongst  us  beats  stronger  than  it  did  a 
week  ago;  that  the  blood  flows  purer  and  freer.  We  have 
been  at  ease  in  Zion.  We  need  arousing.  In  our  simplicity, 
we  had  thought  the  voice  Jacob's.  We  have  found  the  hand 
Esau's. 


286  Forty   Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

"  The  features  of  the  ancient  Babylonians  came  out  in  their 
modern  representatives  with  a  somewhat  repulsive  promi- 
nence, especially  that  spirit  of  bigotry  and  intolerance  which 
could  not  put  up  with  the  frank  outspokenness  of  the  Hebrew 
heroes,  and  their  fearless  protest  against  the  popular  preva- 
lent idolatry.  Wherever  our  modern  Babylon  is  thoroughly 
in  the  ascendant,  the  minority  have  no  rights  which  the 
majority  are  bound  to  respect.  The  faithful  protesters  must 
be  hustled  out  of  the  way.  Away  with  them,  away  with  them! 
The  spirit  that  worked  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  is  re- 
produced on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber  and  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
too,  and  it  is  the  same  that  has  startled  and  surprised  us  here 
in  our  fair  city  by  the  sea.  Then  and  there  it  was  three 
young  men.  Here  and  now  it  has  been  one  old  man. 
Against  them  were  kindled  the  flames  of  the  furnace. 
Against  him  were  directed  brickbats  and  bottles  and  blud- 
geons. In  both  instances,  freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of 
action  were  sought  forcibly  to  be  put  down.  I  suppose  those 
lads  were  looked  on  by  most  as  fools  and  fanatics — disturbers 
of  the  general  peace,  and  deviators  from  the  general  practice. 
And  so  by  some,  even  from  whom  better  things  might  have 
been  expected,  our  '  old  man  eloquent '  has  been  regarded. 
It  is  easy  to  criticise  him — to  take  exception  to  his  sayings 
and  doings — to  pelt  him  with  paper  pellets  soaked  in  vinegar 
and  smelling  of  brimstone,  from  snug  offices  or  cosy  arm* 
chairs;  but  it's  not  so  easy  to  run  the  gauntlet  as  he  has 
done — to  take  one's  life  in  one's  hand  and  to  face,  for  nigh  a 
score  of  years  in  succession,  the  kind  of  weapons  that  have 
been  wielded  against  him.  And  what  has  been  the  head  and 
front  of  his  offending?  Simply  this — that  ever  since  com- 
plying with  the  command,  'Come  out  of  her,  my  people,  he' 
has  continued  to  be  a  courageous  and  consistent  protester 
against  the  sins  of  our  modern  Babylon,  and  ceased  not  to 
*  teach  and  to  preach  Jesus  Christ.'  Simply  this — that  he 
has  kept  ringing  out  the  ancient  battle  cry:  'Be  it  known 
unto  thee,  O  Pope,  that   we   will   not  serve   thy  gods,   nor 


Friends  and  Foes  287 

worship  the  golden  image  which  thou  hast  set  up.'  This  is 
true  Protestantism.  The  Protestant  who  does  not  protest 
against  Rome  is  unworthy  of  the  name. 

"  The  very  lif e=blood  of  the  Protestant  faith  oozes  out  when 
there  is  no  protesting.  For  over  eighteen  years  this  remark- 
able man  has  been  in  close  grapple  with  this  '  mystery  of 
iniquity,'  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  one  of  his  tem- 
perament, and  with  his  surroundings,  and  with  the  intimate 
knowledge  which  a  quarter  of  a  century  behind  the  scenes 
has  given  him  of  Rome's  inner  life,  and  with  the  rough 
handling  he  has  got  from  those  he  has  left;  I  say  it  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  if  he  should  occasionally  '  speak  unadvisedly 
with  his  lips.' 

"Through  all  these  years  the  most  industrious  and  insidious 
efforts  have  been  made  to  smirch  and  to  stain  his  character 
in  accordance  with  Rome's  customary  policy  towards  those 
who  abandon  her  communion.  From  the  fiery  ordeal  he  has 
come  forth  like  gold. 

*'  He  may  have  been  at  times  hasty  in  word  or  deed,  but  so 
were  the  reformers,  and  so  were  the  apostles  and  the  prophets 
which  were  before  them.  Nevertheless,  while  a  man  of  like 
passions  with  ourselves,  and  compassed  with  kindred  infirmi- 
ties, no  breath  of  slander  has  dimmed  the  lustre  of  his 
character,  or  moral  stigma  been  fastened  upon  his  good  name. 
From  1833,  on  through  the  twenty-five  years  of  his  priestly 
life,  his  character  was  of  the  best.  He  was  a  pure  priest,  and 
has  in  his  possession  the  most  undoubted  testimonials  to  this 
effect,  from  the  highest  dignitaries  of  Rome.  He  was  for 
years  by  far  the  most  popular  priest  in  Lower  Canada — the 
very  idol  of  the  people.  He  was  known  as  the  great  Apostle 
of  Temperance — the  Canadian  Father  Matliew.  Within  the  ten 
years  of  his  wonderful  crusade,  no  fewer  than  200,000  of  his 
countrymen  were  certified  as  having  received  the  pledge  from 
his  hands.  The  change  thereby  effected  was  without  parallel. 
He  had  the  offer  of  being  made  Bishop  of  the  great  Norths 
west,  but  had  the  humility  to  decline  it.     So  devoted  was  he 


288  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

however,  to  the  interests  of  his  order,  that  he  received  a  spe- 
cial commission  to  gather  into  one  fold  those  of  his  country- 
men that  were  'dispersed  among  the  Gentiles.'  Going,  as  he 
did,  from  one  place  to  another  in  the  States,  he  was  not  a  lit- 
tle surprised  to  find  that  not  less  than  150,000  French  Cana^ 
dians  had  left  their  native  country  to  live  in  that  great  Repub- 
lic, and  he  was  truly  sorry  to  see  that  the  greater  part  of  them 
were  in  deadly  danger  of  losing  the  Roman  Catholic  faith, 
from  their  being  scattered  among  the  Protestants,  and  from 
there  beingsomany  denominations  of  Protestants  who  were  try- 
ing to  convert  them  to  their  religious  views,  and  to  bring  them 
into  what  he  then  called  the  Protestant  net.  On  going  back 
to  Canada  he  brought  this  under  the  notice  of  the  Bishops, 
who  empowered  him  to  throw  himself  into  this  department  of 
missionary  work. 

"  In  1851  he  settled  in  the  great  Prairie  State,  Illinois,  and 
12,000  of  his  countrymen  gathered  round  him.  Some  seven 
years  later  the  Damascus  scene  was  repeated.  *  There  shone 
a  light  from  heaven  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  and 
there  fell  from  his  eyes  as  it  were  scales.'  It  was  principally 
the  entrance  of  the  Word  which  gave  him  light.  Into  this 
marvelous  light  he  sought  at  once  to  lead  his  people.  This 
has  been  his  life-work  since.  He  has  led  out  from  Rome  six 
or  seven  thousand  of  his  countrymen  in  Illinois,  and  at  least 
as  many  more  in  Canada,  and  other  portions  of  the  States. 

"  During  the  past  six  months  it  is  certified  that  after  deduct- 
ing some  200  who  were  deemed  unworthy,  500  families,  em- 
bracing 2,000  individuals,  have  come  out  from  Rome,  in  and 
around  Montreal.  Considering  the  unusually  strong  foot- 
hold Romanism  has  got  in  Lower  Canada,  and  the  uncom- 
mon devotion  of  the  French  Canadian  Catholics,  such  a  re- 
sult is  truly  surprising.  When  the  Lord  turned  the  cap- 
tivity of  these  people,  we  were  like  men  that  dreamed. 

"  It  was  on  the  tenth  of  June,  1862,  that  Father  Chiniquy 
applied  for  admission  to  the  Canada  Presbyterian  Church. 
I  had  the  honour  and  privilege  of  making  the  motion  in  our 


Friends  and  Foes  289 

Synod  expressive  of  our  deep  interest  in  himself  and  his  work 
and  appointing  the  committee  to  adjudicate  on  his  application 
I  was  a  member  of  the  first  committee. 

"The  following  year  (on  the  11th  of  June,  1863),  he  was 
formally  received,  amid  great  enthusiasm,  so  that  he  has 
been  for  nearly  thirteen  years  a  minister  of  our  Church. 
During  my  residence  in  Chicago  I  repeatedly  visited  the  St. 
Anne  settlement,  and,  as  a  member  of  the  Kankakee  commit- 
tee and  convener  of  the  French  Evangelization  Committee 
(they  are  now  united),  I  had  ample  opportunity  for  forming 
a  judgment  regarding  him. 

"While  in  Montreal  he  often  occupied  my  pulpit,  and 
audiences  of  ten  and  twelve  hundred,  principally  of  his  own 
people,  hung  upon  his  lips.  His  power  in  French  is  amaz- 
ing. No  one  in  our  Dominion  can  come  near  him  in  reach- 
ing the  ear  and  the  heart  of  the  French  people.  When  he 
came,  therefore,  to  our  great  city,  I  hailed  him  as  an  old 
friend,  and  gladly  welcomed  him  to  this  sacred  desk,  in  com- 
mon with  my  beloved  brethren  in  the  ministry. 

"  It  seems  passing  strange  to  me  that  such  a  man,  who  has 
had  access  to  the  best  circles  of  British  and  American  society, 
and  to  the  leading  pulpits  and  platforms  of  Christendom, 
who  led  a  blameless  and  useful  life  for  twenty^five  years 
under  Pajpal  and  for  over  eighteen  years  under  Protestant 
auspices,  who  emancipated  200,000  from  the  slavery  of  alco- 
hol and  some  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  from  the  slavery  of 
Rome,  and  who  has  for  thirteen  years  made  full  proof  of  his 
ministry  in  our  Church,  should  have  been  here  branded  as 
a  fugitive  and  a  vagabond,  stigmatized  as  a  liar  in  our  pulpits, 
howled  at  as  by  a  pack  of  wolves  swarming  round  our  holy 
and  beautiful  house,  and  hooted  and  hounded  for  half  a  mile 
along  our  streets,  as  if  he  were  the  filth  of  the  world  and  the 
ofPscouring  of  all  things,  under  the  shadow,  too,  of  a  garrison 
of  British  soldiers,  and  beneath  the  folds  of  that  glorious  flag 
which  throws  the  impenetrable  shield  of  her  protection  around 
the  obscurest  subject  and  the  humblest  slave. 


290  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

"  It  seems  passing  strange,  too,  that  all  this  should  have 
occurred  in  the  clear  moonlight,  and  only  two  or  three  of 
these  hundreds  have  been  recognized.  It  seems  almost 
stranger  still  that  those  respectable  gentlemen,  of  whose  order 
the  old  man  was  once  a  most  distinguished  ornament,  should 
not  have  publicly  testified  against  such  cruel  and  cowardly 
behaviour,  and  thrown  themselves  in  the  forefront  of  those 
who  are  trying  to  bring  the  perpetrators  to  justice.  One  of 
them  could  have  accomplished  more  than  our  entire  police 
force,  without  disparaging  its  members  in  the  least.  Of  this 
I  feel  persuaded,  and  I  know  I  can  speak  for  my  brethren  as 
well  as  myself,  that  were  it  possible  to  conceive  of  hundreds 
of  our  people  surrounding  a  Koman  Catholic  church,  break- 
ing many  panes  of  glass,  and  disturbing  by  their  yells,  for  an 
hour  and  a  half,  the  service  going  on,  and  then  assaulting, 
with  murderous  intent,  the  officiating  priest,  we  would  have 
been  promptly  out  to  try  and  check  them.  The  first  papers 
of  the  morning  would  have  published  our  indignation.  We 
would  have  at  once  tendered  our  sympathy,  nor  slept  till 
we  had  lent  our  influence,  to  the  making  an  example  of  some 
of  them. 

"  Let  our  Protestantism  get  a  healthier  tone  from  this  ex- 
perience. Let  our  generous  youth  imbibe  the  spirit  and  imi- 
tate the  example  of  those  blessed  young  men  and  say  boldly 
of  Roman  and  every  other  species  of  corruption,  '  Be  it  known 
unto  thee,'  etc.  But  let  no  grudge  rankle  in  our  breasts,  for 
the  religion  we  profess  is  a  religion  of  love,  and  '  Love  work- 
eth  no  ill  to  his  neighbour.'  Let  us  ever  keep  the  line  drawn 
between  persons  and  principles.  We  loath  Rome.  We  love 
Romanists.  Let  us  live  as  the  noble  Argyle  died — when  he 
said  on  the  scaffold,  '  I  die  with  a  heart=hatred  of  Popery.' 
'  Which  thing  I  hate,'  as  the  blessed  Master  says  of  the  doc- 
trines and  deeds  of  the  Nicolaitans.  With  a  generosity  and 
magnanimity  his  enemies  would  do  well  to  imitate,  Chiniquy 
says:  'There  are,  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  many  millions  of 
sincere  and  respectable  men,  and  we  must  seriously  pray  the 


Friends  and  Foes  291 

Lord  to  send  them  His  light — but  we  cannot  go  further.  We 
must  not  abuse  them.'  How  can  I  more  fittingly  close  my 
discourse  than  in  the  words  of  his  yesterday's  letter  to  me? 
'Let  every  one  of  my  friends  unite  their  fervent  prayers  to 
yours  to  the  throne  of  mercy  for  the  conversion  of  the  mul- 
titudes of  the  blind  followers  of  the  Pope,  who  want  to  take 
away  my  life.  Oh,  let  the  dear  Saviour  look  down  in  His 
mercy  upon  them  all,  to  give  them  His  saving  light  that  they 
may  come  with  us  to  His  feet,  to  find  light,  peace  and  eternal 
life!'" 

Dr.  Burns,  in  an  appendix  to  the  sermon  from  which  I  have 
taken  these  extracts,  offers  some  true  and  pertinent  thoughts 
in  regard  to  the  method  of  dealing  with  Romanism.  They 
are  certainly  in  place  in  this  connection.  My  methods  may 
at  times  seem  severe,  and  to  border  on  irreverence,  but  they 
appear  to  me  to  be  such  as  the  subject  needs.  The  wafer^^god 
of  Rome  is  so  utterly  ridiculous,  ludicrous,  idolatrous  and 
absurd,  that  it  should  be  dealt  with  accordingly,  which  I  have 
not  hesitated  to  do.  The  author  of  this  sermon  shows  very 
forcibly  that  my  style  in  this  respect  is  fully  sustained  by 
examples  found  in  the  Bible. 

"Mr.  Chiniquy  has  been  taken  severely  to  task,  even  by 
some  Protestants,  for  breaking  the  wafer  in  pieces,  which, 
after  the  priest's  consecration,  is  believed  by  the  Romanists 
to  contain  in  it  the  '  body,  soul  and  divinity  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.'  This  infallible  authority  declares  that  a  single  con- 
secrated wafer  makes  only  one  god,  but  that  if  you  break  that 
consecrated  wafer  into  a  number  of  fragments,  the  'body, 
soul  and  divinity' of  the  God- man  is  in  each  separate  frag- 
ment, so  as  to  contain  as  many  gods.  On  Rome's  principle, 
'  once  a  priest,  always  a  priest,'  Mr,  Chiniquy  has  still  this 
great  power.  It  was  to  show  the  folly  and  blasphemy  of 
sucb  an  assumption,  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  acted  as  he  did.  He 
meant  not  the  slightest  disrespect  to  a  sacred  ordinance  for 
which,  in  the  true  Scriptural  view  of  it,  he  entertains  the  pro- 
foundest  reverence.     The  irreverence  lies   with   those   who 


292  Forty   Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

thus  desecrate  and  travesty  it,  Chiniquy's  mode  of  proced- 
ure may  not  precisely  suit  our  modern  ideas  of  propriety,  but 
it  is  an  ancient  Bible  way  which  has  repeatedly  '  received 
Divine  endorsation.'  It  was  substantially  the  way  of  Moses 
and  Elijah,  and  Isaiah,  and  Hezekiah,  when  exi^osing  the 
folly  and  falsity  of  the  idolatries  with  which  they  had  to  com- 
bat. When  the  Israelites  worshiped  the  golden  calf,  Moses, 
their  leader,  burnt  it  with  fire,  ground  it  to  powder,  strewed  it 
in  the  water  and  made  them  to  drink  of  it.     (Ex.  32:  20.) 

"  Was  the  calf =god  treated  thus,  then  why  may  not  a  cake=god 
be  treated  in  like  manner?  Was  Moses  chargeable  with  '  bad 
taste '  in  treating  so  contemptuously  the  object  of  the  peo- 
ple's blind  veneration? 

"  Elijah,  in  like  manner,  poured  contempt  on  the  Baal 
worshipers  at  Carmel  and  brought  the  sharpest  irony,  the 
most  scathing  sarcasm,  to  bear  against  them.  '  Elijah  mocked 
them  and  said.  Cry  aloud,  for  he  is  a  god;  either  he  is  talk- 
ing, or  he  is  pursuing,  or  he  is  on  a  journey,  or  peradventure 
he  sleepeth  and  must  be  awaked.'  (1  Kings  18:27.)  Was 
it  counted  ' bad  taste '  in  this  holy  man  thus  to  'make  fun' 
of  these  worshipers  who  evinced  their  sincerity  by  their 
continual  crying  and  '  cutting  themselves  with  knives  and 
lances'  (like  the  flagellants)  'till  the  blood  gushed  out  upon 
them.' 

"  As  a  '  take=off '  on  idolatry,  we  know  nothing  to  equal  the 
vivid  and  graphic  portraiture  of  Isaiah.  (Chap.  44:9-20.) 
The  man  cutting  down  the  cedar,  using  part  of  the  wood  for 
warming  himself,  part  for  cooking  his  food,  etc.,  then  em- 
ploying the  residue  in  making  a  god.  *  He  burneth  part 
thereof  in  the  fire,  with  part  thereof  he  eateth  flesh ;  he  roast- 
eth  roast  and  is  satisfied;  yea  he  warmeth  himself  and  saith, 
Aha,  I  am  warm;  and  the  residue  thereof  he  maketh  a  god, 
even  his  graven  image;  he  falleth  down  unto  it  and  worship- 
eth  it,  and  prayeth  unto  it  and  saith.  Deliver  me,  for  thou 
art  my  god.'— Verses  16  and  17. 

"  From  the  standpoint  of  our  modern  critics,  Isaiah  (or  the 


Friends  and  Foes  293 

Spirit  of  God  speaking  through  him)  showed  the  extreme  of 
'bad  taste '  in  violating  the  religious  sensibilities  of  so  many, 
and  turning  into  ridicule  their  conscientious  convictions. 

"  And  how  did  the  good  king  Hezekiah  act  towards  the 
brazen  serpent?  It  was  the  time^honored  relic  whose  preser- 
vation seemed  pardonable  as  a  quickener  to  gratitude.  But 
when  undue  homage  began  to  be  rendered  to  it,  it  was 
treated  by  the  king  as  our  modern  iconoclast  has  been  treat- 
ing the  wafer;  '  He  brake  in  pieces  the  brazen  serpent  that 
Moses  had  made;  for  unto  those  days  the  children  of  Israel 
did  burn  incense  to  it;  and  he  called  it  Nehushtan — a  piece 
of  brass.'     (2  Kings  18:4.) 

"  The  parallel  supplied  by  these  four  cases  is  perfect.  If 
Mr.  Chiniquy  violated  the  proprieties,  he  did  so  in  good  com- 
pany. Moreover,  his  action  was  intended  as  a  test.  If  Deity 
resided  in  that  thin,  tiny  cake  and  every  portion  thereof, 
would  He  not  avenge  His  own  honour  thus  sacrilegiously  in- 
sulted by  the  prompt  and  signal  punishment  of  the  aggres- 
sor? That  no  harm  came  to  him  so  impressed  the  beholders 
that  thirty  of  them,  the  morning  after  the  wafer  was  subjected 
to  this  test,  abjured  their  allegiance  to  Rome. 

"  We  are  far  from  saying  that  Mr.  Chiniquy's  modes  of 
procedure  are  always  what  we  or  our  brethren  would  adopt. 
But  he  knows  thoroughly  the  people  with  whom  he  has  to 
deal,  and  adapts  his  treatment  accordingly.  In  such  mat- 
ters 'let  every  one  be  fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind,'  and 
the  best  criterion,  probably,  after  all,  by  which  to  judge  his 
measures,  is  the  wonderful  success  with  which  they  have  been 
attended." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

Rebuked  by  a  Prominent  Presbyterian  Minister.     Approved 
by  His  Congregation 

My  Christian  readers  would  be  much  mistaken  if  they 
were  thinking  that  the  lecturer  on  Romanism  is  constantly 
walking  among  sweet  briers  and  roses,  and  that  he  is  sure  to 
be  fed  with  sugar  plums  when  working  among  the  Protestant 
population  of  America  and  Europe.  More  often  than  is 
suspected  his  paths  are  among  thorns,  and  his  bread  is  mixed 
with  the  bitterest  gall. 

I  am,  as  the  dear  Saviour  was,  looked  upon  as  an  impostor 
and  a  disturber  of  the  peace  by  many  of  those  very  Israelites 
He  wanted  to  enlighten  and  to  save;  so,  very  often,  the 
brother  who  is  called  by  God  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  Protes- 
tant people  to  the  errors  and  idolatries  of  Romanism  has 
nothing  to  expect  from  many  of  them  but  unkind  and  ungen- 
erous and  utterly  disappointing  treatment. 

After  I  had  been,  several  times,  so  kindly  invited  by  dif- 
ferent Christian  ministers  of  Halifax  to  address  their  congre- 
gations, it  was  remarked  that  I  had  never  been  seen  within 
the  walls  of  St.  Matthew's  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which 
Rev.  Dr.  Grant  was  pastor. 

To  the  question  several  times  asked  me  by  elders  of  that 
Church,  why  I  had  never  addressed  them,  I  invariably  an- 
swered: "Your  good  pastor  possesses  more  historical  and  theo- 
logical knowledge  in  his  little  finger  than  I  have  in  my  poor 
brain  about  the  errors  of  Romanism;  he  feels  as  I  do,  that  he 
does  not  want  me  to  teach  you  anything  on  that  subject. 
He  can  do  that  himself  better  than  anybody  else." 

They  answered:  "You  may  think  and  say  what  you  please 
about  our  minister,  but  the  fact  is  that  we  have  never  heard  a 

291 


Rebuked  and  Approved  295 

word  from  his  lips  against  Romanism.  It  is  the  very  contrary. 
Not  only  do  we  see  him  in  company  with  the  Bishop  and  priests 
of  Rome,  but  he  is  ready  enough  to  show  us  that  he  is  in 
sympathy  with  that  Church  in  many  things. 

"We  would  not  admire  him  less  cordially,  if  he  were  a  little 
more  frank  in  dealing  with  Rome.  Remember  that  we  do 
not  think  that  our  pastor  is  such  a  traitor  as  to  try  to  lead  us 
into  the  sink  of  errors  of  Romanism.  We  only  regret  that  he 
is  absolutely  mute  about  the  past  and  present  errors  of  that 
system.  As  Protestants  we  want,  not  only  for  ourselves, 
but  for  our  children  also,  to  hear  some  warning  words  from 
our  pastor  against  the  snares  of  Popery. 

"Now  and  then  we  have  the  sad  and  shameful  spectacle  of 
some  of  our  Protestants  in  Halifax  turning  Romanists.  This 
would  never  occur  if  our  ministers  were  more  attentive  to 
warn  us  against  the  snares  of  those  wily  and  implacable  foes 
of  the  Gospel.  Would  you  accept  an  invitation  to  give  us  an 
address  in  our  church,  if  you  were  invited  by  our  pastor?" 
I  answered,  "  I  will  accept  such  an  invitation  from  your  good 
pastor  with  the  utmost  pleasure,  for  there  is  not  a  Protestant 
minister  in  the  whole  of  Canada  for  whose  talents  I  have 
greater  admiration." 

The  result  of  this  conversation  was,  that,  later  on,  in  1876, 
after  the  riot  of  Fort  Massey  Church,  I  had  the  honour  to  sit  at 
the  tea  table  of  Mr.  Grant,  previous  to  the  address  which  he 
had  requested  me  to  give,  that  same  evening,  on  a  subject  of 
my  own  choice,  about  Romanism.  Those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  gentleness  of  Dr.  Grant  need  not  be  told  that  noth- 
ing could  surpass  the  courtesy  with  which  he  presented  me  to 
his  people  before  the  address. 

I  took  for  my  text  the  second  chapter  of  the  second  epistle 
to  the  Thessalonians,  where  St.  Paul,  speaking  of  the  future 
enemies  against  whom  they  would  have  to  protect  themselves, 
mentioned,  "  that  man  of  sin,  that  son  of  perdition,  who  op- 
poseth  and  exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or 
that  is  worshiped;  so  that  he  as  god  sitteth  in  the  temple 


296  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

of  God,  showing  himself  that  he  is  God."     (2  ThoBs.  2:  '.i,  4.) 

Among  other  things  I  said,  were  these: 

"After  having  been  twenty=five  years  a  priest  of  the  Church 
of  Rome,  no  doubt  remains  in  my  mind  that  that  anti  = 
Christ,  that  man  of  sin,  who  sits  in  the  temple  of  God,  and 
who  does  not  only  believe  but  makes  the  people  believe  that 
he  is  above  God,  is  the  priest,  the  Bishop  and  the  Pope  of 
Rome. 

"Yes!  Popery  or  Romanism  is  the  embodiment,  the  per- 
sonification of  the  power,  the  religion,  of  the  church  of  anti= 
Christ. 

"  Go  where  you  please  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  this 
terrestrial  globe,  and  I  ask  you  to  show  me  any  persons,  who, 
more  than  the  Pope  with  his  bishops  and  priests,  persistently 
and  publicly  say,  before  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  as  well  as 
the  angels  of  God,  that  they  have  such  mighty  jjower  that  the 
eternal  and  almighty  God,  who  created  heaven  and  earth,  is 
absolutely  powerless  in  their  presence. 

"Please  pay  attention  to  what  I  say  here,  and  understand 
that  which  I  want  you  never  to  forget. 

"  As  soon  as  a  priest  is  ordained  by  the  imposition  of  the 
hands  of  his  Bishop,  he  is  to  believe  that  he  is  more  above 
God  than  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth;  he  is  obliged  to 
believe  that  in  his  presence  the  Word  of  God  and  God  Him- 
self, Jesus  Christ,  the  second  person  of  the  Trinity,  who  with 
a  word  of  His  lips  has  created  the  sun  which  was  so  bright 
to=day,  with  that  beautiful  moon  and  those  millions  of  stars 
which  are  so  bright  over  our  heads  to=night,  does  absolutely  lose 
His  power  in  the  presence  of  a  priest.  Yes,  He  must  obey 
the  priest  more  submissively  than  the  vilest  slave  has  ever 
obeyed  his  master.  He  must  submit  Himself  to  the  will  of 
the  priest  more  quickly,  more  absolutely,  than  the  little  dog 
need  obey  you  when  you  have  tied  a  rope  to  his  neck  and 
obliged  him  to  follow  you. 

"  I  know  you  are  amazed  and  horrified  when  you  hear  me 
telling  you  these  things.     You  are  tempted  to  think  and  say 


Rebuked   and  Approved  2,97 

that  I  exaggerate.  But  please  give  a  moment  of  attention,  and 
you  will  see  that  these  are  no  exaggerations,  but  that  I  am 
telling  the  simple  but  the  most  frightful  truth  you  ever 
heard. 

"  Look  at  these  small  cakes  which  I  hold  in  my  hands. 
This  small  one  is  for  the  use  of  the  people,  and  the  large  one 
for  the  use  of  the  priests. 

"  These  cakes  are  made  with  a  little  wheat  flour  by  the 
servant  girls  of  the  priests  or  by  the  nuns,  between  two  well= 
heated  irons.  Every  day,  some  of  them,  to  the  number  of 
ten,  twenty  or  sometimes  to  the  number  of  a  hundred,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  communicants,  are  put  by  the 
priest  into  a  silver  box,  called  '  cibarium,'  and  placed  on  the 
altars  where  he  performs,  every  day,  a  ceremony  called  the 
mass. 

"  About  the  middle  of  that  mass,  taking  that  silver  box  in 
his  hands,  he  pronounces  upon  it  the  following  words  in 
Latin,  just  as  I  will  pronounce  them  in  your  presence,  '  Hoc 
est  enim  corpus  meum.' 

"  Then  he  must  believe  and  every  one  of  his  people  must 
believe  that  there  is  such  a  marvelous,  such  a  divine  power 
given  him  by  the  Pope,  that  more  quickly  than  lightning, 
the  second  person  of  the  Trinity,  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God  and  God  Himself,  has  been  forced  by  him  to  come  down 
into  his  hands — and  change  Himself  into  those  wafers — and 
change  every  one  of  those  wafers  into  body,  soul  and  divin- 
ity. He  must  believe  and  make  his  people  believe,  that  there 
are  no  more  wafers  in  his  hands  or  in  the  silver  box,  but  that 
every  wafer  has  become  Christ,  God  and  man,  whom  you 
must  accept,  love  and  adore  as  your  Saviour  and  your  God. 

"  As  soon  as  the  priest  has  performed  this  wonderful  mira- 
cle, he  lifts  up  this  newly  created  god  above  his  head,  and 
says  to  his  people,  'Come  and  adore  your  god;  who  to  save 
you  was  made  man  and  died  on  the  cross.' 

"  And  the  whole  people,  falling  on  their  knees,  bring  their 
faces  to  the  dust  and  adore  the  god  whom   their   priest   has 


■298  Forty    Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

just  made  before  their  eyes  with  that  wafer  baked  by  his  ser- 
vant girl  between  two  well=heated  irons. 

"  I  was  an  lionest  man  when  I  was  a  priest,  just  as  I  hope 
that  all  the  priests  who  live  in  Halifax,  to=day,  are  honest; 
but  I  was  cruelly  deceived,  as  they  are,  by  the  devil. 

"  I  made  and  adored  that  newly  made  god  every  morn- 
ing of  my  life  during  the  twenty=five  years  I  was  a  priest,  as 
all  the  priests  of  Halifax  made  and  adored  their  ridiculous, 
execrable  and  contemptible  idol,  this  very  morning. 

"  I  do  not  say  these  things  that  you  may  have  any  con- 
tempt or  bad  feeling  for  the  Roman  Catholics.  I  do  not  give 
you  these  awful  details  about  their  idolatrous  worship  that 
you  may  say  to  each  other  when  you  go  out  of  this  temple, 
after  this  address,  'How  stupid  and  blind  are  those  poor, 
ignorant  Roman  Catholics.'  No;  our  dear  Saviour  did  not 
come  from  heaven  to  teach  us  to  despise  our  neighbours 
— He  came  to  teach  us  how  to  love  and  save  them. 

" The  Roman  Catholics  are  no  more  stupid  than  you  are; 
but  they  are  in  the  dark,  and  it  is  your  fault!  Yes;  Protes- 
tants, it  is  your  fault,  it  is  your  sin  if  your  friends  and 
neighbours  of  the  Church  of  Rome  are  in  the  dark  regions  of 
Popery!  You  have  the  light  and  you  keep  it  for  yourselves. 
You  have  the  truth  about  those  solemn  mysteries  of  the 
Gospel  and  your  neighbours  have  it  not!  And  what  do  you  do 
to  give  them  the  light  and  the  truth?  I  ask  it  in  the  name 
of  the  great  God  you  adore:  What  have  you  done  to  show 
the  truth  and  to  give  the  light  to  the  Roman  Catholics  on  these 
great  and  solemn  mysteries?  If  you  have  done  anything,  it  is 
so  small  that  it  is  almost  an  insult  to  God. 

"  The  Church  of  Rome  would  have  been  a  dead  thing  long 
ago,  if  you  soldiers  of  the  Gospel  had  fought  it  as  you  should 
have  done.  Yes;  the  Roman  Catholics  would  have  accepted 
the  light  long  ago  if  you  had  done  your  duty  towards  them! 

"  You  have  forgotten  that  you  are  the  soldiers  of  Christ, 
enrolled  under  His  sacred  banner  to  silence  and  conquer  His 
enemies! 


Rebuked  and  Approved  299 

"  Why  has  the  great  God  of  heaven  granted  you  to  con- 
quer Canada  if  it  were  not  that  you  might  bring  its  people  into 
the  ways  of  the  Gospel? 

"Have  you  done  it?  All  the  echoes  of  heaven  and  earth 
answer:  No! 

"  Do  not  speak  of  the  difficulties  which  you  have  to  encoun- 
ter: it  is  neither  British  nor  Christian  to  be  frightened  and 
paralyzed  by  difficulties,  when  the  great  Captain  of  Salvation 
calls  you  to  conquer  the  French  Canadian  people  to  the  Gospel. 

"  Were  your  heroic  ancestors  frightened  when  the  Parlia- 
ment and  the  King  of  England  said,  '  We  must  conquer 
Canada?'  No!  From  one  end  to  the  other  of  Great  Britain 
the  heroic  cry  was  heard:  '  We  must  conquer  Canada! ' 

"  Some  people  said:  '  But  to  conquer  Canada  we  will  have 
to  shed  rivers  of  blood — we  will  have  to  expend  millions 
and  millions  of  pounds.' 

"  Your  heroic  fathers  answered:  '  We  must  conquer  Canada 
at  any  cost — let  the  blood  flow — let  the  millions  of  pounds  go 
— at  any  cost  we  must  wrench  Canada  from  the  hands  of  our 
foe,  France.'     And  Canada  was  conquered! 

"  Be  true  soldiers  of  Christ,  to-day,  as  your  fathers  were  true 
to  their  king  and  their  country.  Go  and  fight  Rome  as 
British  men  know  how  to  fight.  Go  to  the  conquest  of 
Canada  with  a  British  heart,  a  British  intelligence,  a  British 
pluck  and  a  British  liberality,  and  Romanism  will  melt  and 
disappear  as  the  French  colours  had  to  fall  and  disappear  at 
the  roaring  of  the  British  lion  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham, 
September  thirteenth,  1759. 

'*  But  it  is  not  with  carnal  weapons  that  we  must  fight 
Rome.  It  is  not  by  hating  or  abusing  the  Roman  Catholics 
we  shall  convert  them.  The  only  weapons  which  will  give  us 
the  victory  against  Rome  are  the  weapons  of  love  which 
Christ 'has  brought  from  heaven  to  save  the  world. 

"The  first  weapon  which  will  break  the  doors  of  the  New 
Babylon  and  cause  her  strong  walls  to  totter  and  fall  into 
dust  is  the  prayer  of  our  hearts. 


300  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

"  '  Anything  which  you  ask  My  Father  in  My  name  will  be 
granted,'  said  our  adorable  Saviour.  One  of  the  great  sins 
of  tlie  Protestants  in  Canada  is  that  they  do  not  pray  as  they 
ought  for  the  conversion  of  the  poor  idolaters  whom  the  Pope 
of  Rome  keeps  enchained  to  the  feet  of  his  idols  in  Canada. 
Oh!  let  the  day  come  when  every  disciple  of  the  Gospel, 
every  true  servant  of  God,  among  you  will  raise  his  supplica- 
ting hands  to  the  Mercy  Seat,  and  then  the  walls  of  the  modern 
Babylon  will  crumble,  and  on  their  ruins  the  angels  of  God 
will  sing,  'Praise  the  Lord,  Babylon  is  fallen!' 

"  The  second  weapon  is  to  send  the  Gospel  of  Christ  into 
every  family,  through  faithful  and  intelligent  Christians. 

"  There  is  an  irresistible  power  in  the  Word  of  God.  As 
the  dark  hours  of  the  night  are  changed  into  the  bright  hours 
of  the  day  when  the  rays  of  the  bright  sun  come  down  from 
from  the  skies,  so  the  dark  night  of  Popery  will  disappear, 
whenever  you  persuade  our  honest  but  cruelly  deceived 
Roman  Catholic  countrymen  to  read  the  Word  of  God! 

"  The  third  infallible  weapon  to  destroy  Rome  in  Canada 
is,  to  give  good  example. 

"  Let  the  day  soon  come  when  the  Protestants  in  Canada 
will  everywhere  give  examples  of  a  holy  and  Christian 
life,  and  you  will  see  how  my  dear  Roman  Catholic  country- 
men will  soon  break  the  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke  of 
Popery. 

"  The  eyes  of  the  Roman  Catholics  are  sharper  than  you 
suspect.  When  they  look  at  you,  they  too  often  see  your 
shortcomings.  They  see  many  who  desecrate  the  holy  day 
which  the  Lord  has  put  aside  to  serve  and  glorify  Him  in. 
They  see  too  often  men  who  have  a  Christian  name  forget  the 
respect  they  owe  to  themselves  and  to  their  God  in  the  infa- 
mous saloons.  They  too  often  hear  of  the  dishonesty  in  the 
ranks  and  files  of  those  who  have  a  Christian  name  in  your 
midst. 

"The  result  is  that  they  say  to  each  other:  'Why  should 
we  leave  our  ranks  in  order  to  go  among  people  who  are  ac 


Rebuked  and  Approved  301 

bad  as  we  are.'  Yes;  the  scandalous  lives  of  too  many  Prot- 
estants in  Canada  constitute  a  wall  so  high  and  so  thick 
that  my  poor  Roman  Catholic  countrymen  can  neither  go 
over  nor  through  it. 

"  But  let  every  disciple  of  the  Gospel  in  Canada  be  true  to 
Christ,  and  give  the  example  of  a  holy  life,  and  very  soon  the 
Roman  Catholics  will  see  it  not  only  to  admire,  but  to  follow 
you.  At  the  sight  of  your  Christian  life,  my  dear  country- 
men will  say:  'How  beautiful  are  thy  tents,  O  Jacob,  and 
thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel!' 

"  They  will  say  to  each  other:  '  Let  us  go  into  the  midst  of 
that  people,  for  surely  the  Lord  is  their  shepherd.' 

"  They  will  come  to  you,  brought  by  that  irresistible  attrac- 
tion of  your  Christian  virtues;  and  you  will  take  them  by  the 
hand  to  the  feet  of  the  Lamb  who  will  make  them  pure  with 
His  blood  and  free  by  His  word.  And,  after  having  given  up 
the  false  Christs  of  the  Pope  to  follow  the  true  Christ  of  the 
Gospel  during  the  few  days  of  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  they 
will  go  with  you  to  the  Eternal  Kingdom,  where,  during  the 
whole  eternity,  we  will  bless  our  God  for  having  so  much 
loved  the  world  that  He  sent  His  eternal  Son,  Jesus,  to  save 
the  world." 

My  last  word  had  hardly  gone  from  my  lips  when  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Grant  rose  and  addressing  his  people,  said  something  to 
this  effect:  "Now  I  understand  why  we  almost  constantly 
hear  of  tumults  and  riots  wherever  the  Rev.  Mr.  Chiniquy 
gives  his  lectures.  His  language  is  by  no  means  soothing  or 
conciliatory  towards  Roman  Catholics.  He  has  no  right  to 
call  them  blind  idolaters  as  he  does.  ...  If  I  were  a 
Roman  Catholic,  after  hearing  him,  I  am  not  sure  that  I 
iould  meekly  accept  his  teaching.  I  might  even  be  glad  if 
;m'  were  silenced." 

After  a  short  tribute  to  my  mission  work  in  Montreal,  Mr. 
Grant  sat  down. 

I  thought  my  duty  was  to  answer  him.  I  rose  and  said,  as 
calmly  as  I  could: 


302  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

"  My  dear  sir,  you  are  mistaken  if  you  think  that  I  shall 
accept  in  silence  the  judgment  you  have  just  passed  upon  me. 
I  believe  with  my  whole  heart  what  I  have  said;  and  I  have 
not  spoken  in  an  unkindly  spirit.  Let  me  appeal  to  your 
people  who  have  just  heard  every  word  that  fell  from  my 
lips." 

Then  turning  towards  the  multitude  who  had  listened  to 
my  address  with  breathless  attention,  I  said:  "Ladies  and 
gentlemen,  after  listening  to  my  address  with  such  a  kind 
attention,  you  have  just  heard  the  sentence  passed  upon  me 
by  your  pastor.  If  you  think  that  I  deserve  that  public  rebuke 
and  that  want  of  confidence,  I  will  accept  it  as  well  merited. 
I  want  you  all  to  give  me  your  mind  just  as  it  is  before  God. 
Please  let  those  of  you  who  are  of  the  same  mind  as  your 
pastor  lift  up  your  hands,  and,  if  you  do  it,  I  will  confess 
guilty  and  ask  pardon  for  what  I  have  said.  Please  let 
those  of  you  who  are  approving  the  censure  which  I  have 
received  in  your  presence  lift  up  your  hands." 

But,  though  I  requested  that  great  gathering  twice  to 
lift  up  their  hands  in  approbation  of  their  pastor's  views, 
not  a  single  hand  was  raised: 

Then  I  said:  "  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  appeal  again  to 
your  Christian  consciences  and  intelligences  to  know  what 
you  think  of  my  address. 

"Let  those  of  you  who  disapprove  the  unfavourable  sen- 
timents uttered  by  your  pastor  raise  their  hands." 

And  all  the  hands,  without  exception,  were  raised.  I  then 
turned  towards  the  Rev.  Mr.  Grant,  and  told  him,  "  My  dear 
sir,  there  is  the  sentence  of  your  people,  and  I  bless  God  for 
it.     Please  let  us  sing  the  Doxology:  'Praise  God.' 

And  the  Doxology  "Praise  God"  was  sung  by  the  angels 
of  God,  I  hope,  as  well  as  by  that  intelligent  and  noble  people. 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

On  My  Way  to  Australia,  California,  Oregon  and  Washington 
Territory 

My  sixty=nine  years  of  age,  with  the  incessant  labours  of  the 
last  four  years  in  Montreal,  had  so  much  impaired  my  lungs, 
that  my  physicians  advised  a  voyage  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  as 
the  only  remedy  which  could  give  me  a  chance  of  working 
a  few  more  years  in  spreading  the  Gospel  among  my  coun- 
trymen. My  noble  Presbyterian  Church,  in  1878,  granted 
me  a  whole  year  of  rest.  Without  losing  any  time  I  crossed 
the  vast  plains  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Utah, 
Nevada  and  California  to  breathe  the  bracing  atmosphere  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 

I  will  leave  to  others  to  speak  of  the  innumerable  marvels 
which  the  hands  of  God  have  sown,  and  which  we  meet  at 
every  step  from  the  Mississippi  river,  so  well  called  by  the 
Indians  the  "Father  of  Great  Waters,"  to  San  Francisco, 
that  so  young  but  already  so  mighty  Queen  of  the  West.  It 
would  require  a  large  volume  to  give  the  history  and  descrip- 
tion of  that  gigantic  railway  which  encircles  the  whole  of  the 
United  States  and  binds  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Pacific 
with  steel  chains;  and  it  would  take  a  more  eloquent  pen 
than  mine  to  tell  what  the  heart  feels  when  the  thundering 
iron  horse,  as  rapid  and  daring  as  the  eagle,  carries  us  up  to 
the  very  top  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  nearly  9,000  feet  above 
the  sea.  How  pure  is  the  air  we  breathe,  how  beautiful  are 
the  blue  skies,  how  everything  takes  new,  strange,  gigantic 
forms  at  that  elevation!  It  is  when  soaring  from  the  top  of 
one  of  those  giant  mountains  to  the  top  of  a  still  more  gigantic 
one  that  man  feels  and  realizes  that  he  is  created  in  the  image 
of  God — that  the  Almighty  has  breathed  upon  him  the  breath 

303 


304  Forty  Years    in    the    Church  of  Christ 

of  an  intelligence  before  which  mountains  and  seas,  winds 
and  storms,  light  and  lightning,  the  whole  earth,  have  to 
humble  and  submit  themselves  as  to  their  legitimate  king. 
Ah!  why  is  it  that  that  mighty  king  so  often  forgets  that  he 
has  himself  an  Almighty,  Eternal  King  and  Master  to  love 
and  serve? 

No  M^ords  will  ever  give  an  idea  of  the  magnificent  spectacle 
of  the  mountains,  whose  tops  are  constantly  covered  with  ice 
and  snow,  when  they  present  their  brow  to  the  sun.  The  per- 
fect peace  and  calm  which  surround  them,  the  millions  of 
glittering  diamonds  which  cover  their  white  robes,  give  more 
the  idea  of  an  angel  of  heaven,  adoring  his  Creator  and  ex- 
tending his  wings  over  the  earth  to  bless  and  protect  it,  than 
a  cold  and  lifeless  mountain.  No:  this  cannot  be  a  heap  of 
brute  stones.  What  magnificence  is  in  that  white  satin  man- 
tle! What  a  grand,  sublime,  mighty  being  is  there  before  me 
at  the  horizon!  How  reverently  its  noble  brow  looks  to 
heaven  above  the  highest  clouds!  Is  not  this  one  of  the 
Seraphims  whose  twofold  duties  are  to  protect  the  earth  and 
sing  the  eternal  Alleluia?  Do  you  not  hear  his  voice:  "Come 
and  see  the  works  of  God.  Who  is  like  our  God?  Let  the 
nations  praise  Him.  By  His  strength  He  setteth  the  moun- 
tains, being  girt  with  power"? 

But  suddenly  dark  clouds  rise  behind  the  mountain;  and, 
quicker  than  I  can  say  it,  the  magnificent  vision  has  disap- 
peared, to  be  replaced  by  the  most  terrific  one  which  the  eyes 
can  see.  The  earth  trembles  under  our  feet;  our  ears  are 
deafened  by  peals  of  thunder  such  as  we  never  heard;  our 
eyes  are  dazzled  and  blinded  by  such  lightnings  as  we  never 
saw.  It  seems  that  the  doors  of  hell  are  just  opened,  and  all 
its  armies  hurled  against  the  seraph  whose  silver  wings  were 
spread  over  the  world.  For  more  than  half  an  hour  we  are 
the  witness  of  a  battle  without  mercy  of  all  the  elements 
against  the  mountain.  Surely  its  flanks  will  be  torn  and 
blackened  under  the  blows  of  the  infernal  artillery;  the 
white  snow  will  drift  away,  scatter  and  disappear  before  the 


On   My  Way  to   Australia  305 

hurricane;  the  mountain  will  melt  under  the  hail  of  brim- 
stone and  those  torrents  of  fire  which  flow  from  the  clouds, 
With  a  breathless  attention,  throut^h  the  closed  windows  of 
the  cars,  we  contemplate  that  sublime  and  terrible  conflict. 
But  suddenly  the  noble  mountain  shows,  again,  its  gigantic 
head  above  the  dark  clouds.  It  has  conquered.  The  storm= 
clouds  are  torn  and  broken  into  fragments;  they  roll  at  the 
feet  of  their  conqueror,  to  disappear  in  the  plain  below.  The 
white  robe  looks  whiter  than  ever,  and  the  rays  of  the  sun 
come  as  messengers  of  God  to  place  on  the  conqueror's  head 
a  diadem  of  gold,  silver  and  precious  pearls.  And  if  your 
soul  has  to  pass  through  great  tribulations — if  you  see  dark 
clouds  at  your  horizon— even  if  you  find  yourself  struck  by 
the  hurricane,  my  Christian  friend,  you  will  surely  hear  a 
sweet  voice  whispering  into  your  ear,  "  Fear  not,  I  am  with 
thee.  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulations;  but  I  have 
overcome  the  world.  Abide  in  Me,  and  I  will  abide  in  you 
to  be  your  strength  and  your  joy  and  your  life  eternal." 

I  wish  I  had  time  and  ability  enough  to  describe  the 
wonderful  walls,  the  high,  strong  towers,  the  marvelous  castles 
and  the  impregnable  citadels — the  works  of  the  hands  of 
God — whose  ruins  are  scattered  all  over  those  wonderful 
Rocky  Mountains.  I  would  also  like  to  say  a  word  about  that 
marvel  of  marvels,  "  The  Devil's  Slide,"  through  which  surely 
his  Satanic  majesty  alone  can  pass  without  losing  a  liberal 
portion  of  his  apparel;  and  the  "Hell  Gates,"  and  Col- 
fax Mountains,  which  no  traveler  can  see  without  losing  his 
breath.  But  I  must  hurry  on,  pass  around  Salt  Lake,  cross 
the  Mormon  cities  and  villages — that  dark  spot  of  American 
civilization — without  saying  a  word,  in  order  to  take  a 
moment  of  rest  at  San  Francisco,  so  well  called  the  "  Golden 
City." 

But  here,  again,  I  am  at  a  loss  what  to  say.  Shall  I  speak 
of  its  magnificent  banks,  some  of  them  built  of  Chinese  gran- 
ite, imported  from  the  "Flowery  Land"?  Shall  I  describe 
the  marvels  of  the  "  Safe  Deposite  Block,"  with  its  4,600  steel 


3o6  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

safes,  built  at  the  cost  of  more  than  two  millions?  Shall  I 
expose  to  the  profane  eyes  of  my  readers  the  numberless  gold 
and  silver  vases,  the  gold  and  silver  bars,  the  untold  treas- 
ures, concealed  behind  the  wall  of  that  steel  palace?  Shall  I 
lead  you,  by  the  hand,  through  the  numberless  chambers  of 
that  multitude  of  princely  mansions,  called  hotels,  one  of 
which,  "The  Palace  Hotel,"  is  almost  a  whole  city  by 
itself  ? 

Those  giant  works  of  a  giant  people  must  be  seen  to  be 
well  understood.  I  will  not,  either,  speak  of  the  material 
prosperity,  or  rather,  the  untold  miseries,  which  the  incalcu- 
lable treasures  of  gold  and  silver,  dug  out  from  the  mines  of 
this  marvelous  country,  have  produced.  But  I  will  not  con- 
ceal my  disappointment  and  sadness,  when,  lifting  up  the 
deceitful  gold  curtain  which  the  hand  of  man  had  spread  over 
everything  here,  I  tried  to  find  how  many  of  my  fellow^men 
were  really  happy  behind  the  shadow  of  those  marble  and 
gilded  walls. 

Ah !  do  not  come  to  San  Francisco  if  you  want  to  see  cheer- 
ful faces  and  hear  hearty  laughs.  You  will,  indeed,  be  more 
lucky  than  I  am,  if  you  can  find  many  in  those  multitudes 
you  meet  in  the  streets,  on  the  public  squares,  or  in  the 
hotels,  who  look  cheerful  and  happy.  The  deep  furrows  of 
anxiety  are  traced  on  every  brow;  the  sure  indications  of 
trouble,  if  not  of  despair,  are  painted  in  almost  every  eye; 
and  the  tortures  of  a  broken  heart  have  sealed  and  discoloured 
almost  every  lip.  Hour  after  hour  I  stood  at  the  corner  of 
the  most  thronged  streets,  or  the  most  frequented  public 
squares,  to  study  that  page  of  this  wonderful  people's 
history;  and  I  could  hardly  refrain  from  tears,  when,  alone 
in  my  closet,  in  the  presence  of  God,  I  recalled  in  my  mind 
the  infallible  marks  of  human  misery  and  deep  despair  I  had 
seen  on  the  faces  of  those  beings  whom  God  had  created  to 
be  happy,  and  for  whom  Christ  died  that  they  might  forever 
live  with  Him.  Oh!  how  few  of  those  multitudes  I  met 
ever  listened  to  the  dear  Saviour's  voice:  "  Come  unto  Me,  all 


On   My  Way  to   Australia  307 

ye  who  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Nowhere, 
as  here,  have  I  seen,  as  written  with  letters  of  tears  and  blood 
on  so  many  men's  brows:  "The  love  of  riches  is  the  source 
of  every  evil."  There  is  probably  not  a  single  spot  in  this 
world  where  so  many  have  suddenly  passed  from  a  state  of 
comparative  poverty  to  the  height  of  fortune;  and,  in  conse- 
quence, there  is  not  a  spot  where  all  are  so  anxiously  bent  on 
the  fortune's  wheel  with  the  hope  of  soon  reaching  its  top. 
But,  alas!  how  many,  instead  of  rising  to  the  summit  of  for- 
tune, roll  down,  every  day,  to  the  bottomless  abyss  of  the 
most  hopeless  misery.  And  among  the  few  lucky  ones,  who 
have  so  suddenly  become  millionaires,  how  many,  every  day, 
see  their  treasures  melt,  fade  away,  and  disappear  almost  as 
suddenly  as  they  came. 

When,  in  1852,  it  became  evident  that  my  plan  of  forming 
a  colony  of  French  Canadian  Catholics  on  the  fertile  plains 
of  Illinois  was  to  be  a  success,  D'Arcy  McGree,  then  editor  of 
the  "  Freeman's  Journal,"  the  official  paper  of  the  R.  C. 
Bishop  of  New  York,  wrote  me  to  know  my  views;  and  he 
immediately  determined  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  simi- 
lar enterprise  in  favour  of  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics.  He 
published  several  able  articles  to  show  that  the  Irish  people, 
with  few  exceptions,  were  demoralized,  degraded  and  kept 
poor  around  their  groggeries,  and  how  they  would  thrive  and 
become  respectable  and  rich,  if  they  could  be  induced  to  ex- 
change their  city  grogshops  and  low  saloons  for  the  fertile 
lands  of  the  West.  Through  his  influence  a  large  assembly, 
principally  composed  of  priests,  to  which  I  was  invited,  met 
at  Buffalo  in  the  spring  of  1858.  But  what  was  his  disap- 
pointment, when  he  saw  that  the  greater  part  of  those  priests 
were  sent  by  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States  to  oppose  and 
defeat  his  plans.  He  vainly  spoke  with  the  most  burning 
eloquence  for  the  support  of  his  pet  scheme.  The  majority 
coldly  answered  him:  "  We  are  determined,  like  you,  to  take 
possession  of  the  United  States  and  rule  them;  but  we  can- 
not do  that  except  by  acting  secretly,  and  making  use  of  the 


3o8  Forty   Years   in    the  Church  of  Christ 

utmost  wisdom.  If  our  plans  are  known  they  will  surely  be 
defeated.  What  does  a  skilful  general  do  when  he  wants  to 
conc^uer  a  country?  Does  he  scatter  his  soldiers  over  the 
farm  lands  and  spend  their  time  and  energies  in  plowing  the 
field  and  sowing  the  grain?  No;  he  keeps  them  well  united 
around  his  banners,  and  marches  at  their  head  to  the  con- 
quest of  their  strongholds —the  rich  and  powerful  cities. 
The  farming  countries  then  submit  and  become  the  price  of 
the  victory,  without  moving  a  finger  to  subdue  them.  So  it 
is  for  us.  Silently  and  patiently  we  must  mass  our  Irish 
Roman  Catholics  in  the  great  cities  of  the  United  States; 
remembering  that  the  vote  of  our  poor  journeyman,  even 
though  he  be  covered  with  rags,  has  as  much  weight  in  the 
scale  of  power  as  the  millionaire  Astor,  and  that,  if  we  have 
two  votes  against  his  one,  he  will  become  as  powerless  as  an 
oyster.  Let  us,  then,  multiply  our  votes;  let  us  call  our  poor 
but  faithful  Irish  Catholics  from  every  corner  of  the  world, 
and  gather  them  in  the  very  hearts  of  those  proud  citadels 
which  the  Yankees  are  so  rapidly  building  under  the  names 
of  Washington,  New  York.  Chicago,  Buffalo,  Albany,  Troy, 
etc.  Under  the  shadow  of  these  great  cities,  the  Americans 
consider  themselves  as  a  giant  and  unconquerable  race.  They 
look  upon  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  with  the  utmost  con- 
tempt, as  only  fit  to  dig  their  canals,  sweep  their  streets,  and 
work  in  their  kitchens.  Let  no  one  awake  those  sleeping  lions 
to=day;  let  us  pray  God  that  they  may  sleep  and  dream  their 
sweet  dreams  a  few  years  more.  How  sad  will  be  their 
awakening,  when,  with  our  out=numbering  votes,  we  will  turn 
them  all,  forever,  from  every  position  of  honour,  power  and 
profit.  What  will  those  hypocritical  sons  and  daughters  of 
the  fanatical  Pilgrim  Fathers  say,  when  not  a  single  judge,  not 
a  single  teacher,  not  even  a  single  policeman,  will  be  elected,  if 
he  is  not  a  devoted  Irish  Catholic?  What  will  those  so  callecl 
giants  think  and  say  of  their  matchless  shrewdness  and  abil- 
ity, when  not  a  single  senator  or  member  of  Congress  will  be 
chosen  if  he  is  not  submitted  to  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope? 


On   My  Way   to   Australia  309 

What  a  sad  figure  those  Protestant  Yankees  will  cut,  when  we 
will  not  only  elect  the  President,  but  fill  and  command  the 
armies,  man  the  navy,  and  keep  in  our  hands  the  keys  of  the 
public  treasuries!  It  will  then  be  time  for  our  faithful  Irish 
people  to  give  up  their  grogshops  in  order  to  become  the 
judges  and  governors  of  the  land.  Then  our  poor  and  hum- 
ble mechanics  will  leave  their  damp  ditches  and  canals,  to 
rule  the  cities  in  all  their  departments — from  the  stately  man- 
sions of  mayor  to  the  more  humble,  though  not  less  noble 
position  of  schoolteacher. 

"Then,  yes,  then  we  will  rule  the  United  States,  and  lay 
them  at  the  feet  of  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  he  may 
put  an  end  to  their  godless  system  of  education  and  sweep 
away  those  impious  laws  of  liberty  of  conscience  which  are 
an  insult  to  God  and  man." 

Poor  D'Arcy  McGee  was  left  almost  alone  when  the  votes 
were  given.  From  that  time  the  Catholic  priests,  with  the  most 
admirable  ability,  have  gathered  their  Irish  legions  into  the 
great  cities  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Americans  must  be 
very  blind  indeed  if  they  do  not  see  that  the  day  is  very  near 
when  the  Jesuits  will  rule  their  cities,  from  the  magnificent 
White  House  of  Washington  to  the  humblest  civil  and  mili- 
tary department  of  this  vast  Republic. 

They  are  already  the  masters  of  New  York,  Baltimore,  Chi- 
cago, St.  Paul,  Milwaukee,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  Cincin- 
nati, San  Francisco. 

Yes,  San  Francisco,  the  rich,  the  beautiful,  the  great  Queen 
of  the  West,  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits! 

From  the  very  first  days  of  the  discovery  of  the  gold  mines 
of  California  the  Jesuits  got  the  hope  of  becoming  masters  of 
those  inexhaustible  treasuries,  and  they  laid  their  plans  with 
the  most  admirable  ability  to  succeed. 

They  saw,  at  first,  that  the  immense  majority  of  the  lucky 
miners,  of  every  creed  and  nation,  were  going  back  home  as 
soon  as  they  had  enough  to  secure  an  honourable  comfort  to 
their  families.     It  became  evident  that,  of  those   multitudes 


3IO  Forty  Years   in  the  Church  of  Christ 

which  the  thirst  of  gold  had  brought  from  every  country  of 
Europe  and  America  and  even  Asia,  not  one  in  fifty  would 
fix  his  home  in  San  Francisco  and  become  her  citizen.  The 
Jesuits  saw  at  a  glance,  then,  that  if  they  could  persuade  the 
Irish  Catholics  to  remain  and  settle,  they  would  soon  be  the 
masters  and  the  rulers  of  that  gold  city  whose  future  was  so 
bright  and  so  great.  And  that  scheme,  worked  day  and  night 
with  the  utmost  perseverance  and  wisdom,  has  been  crowned 
with  perfect  success. 

When,  with  few  exceptions,  the  lucky  Frenchman,  who  had 
become  wealthy,  was  going  back  to  his  "  Belle  France,"  with 
a  cheerful  heart,  and  when  the  intelligent  German,  the  indus- 
trious Scotchman,  the  shrewd  New  York  and  New  England 
diggers,  or  the  honest  Canadian,  suddenly  made  rich,  were 
gladly  bidding  an  eternal  farewell  to  San  Francisco  to  go  and 
live  happily  in  the  dear  old  home,  the  Irish  Catholics  were 
taught  to  consider  San  Francisco  as  their  promised  land. 

The  consequence  is  that  where  you  find  only  a  few  Ameri- 
can, German,  Scotch,  or  English  millionaires  in  San  Francisco, 
you  find  more  than  fifty  Irish  Catholic  millionaires  in  that  city. 
The  richest  bank  of  San  Francisco,  Nevada  Bank,  is  in  their 
hands,  and  so  are  all  the  street  railways.  The  principal  of- 
fices of  the  city  are  filled  with  Irish  Roman  Catholics;  al- 
most all  of  the  police  is  composed  of  the  same  class,  as  well 
as  the  volunteer  military  associations.  Their  compact  unity 
in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits,  with  their  enormous  wealth,  makes 
them  almost  the  supreme  masters  of  the  mines  of  California 
and  Nevada. 

When  one  knows  the  absolute  and  abject  submission  of  the 
Irish  Roman  Catholics,  rich  or  poor,  to  their  priest — how  the 
mind,  the  soul,  the  will,  the  conscience,  are  firmly  and  ir- 
revocably tied  to  the  feet  of  their  priests — he  can  easily  under- 
stand that  the  Jesuits  of  California  form  one  of  the  richest 
and  most  powerful  corporations  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

It  is  known  by  every  one  there  that  those  fifty  Irish  Cath- 
olic   millionaires,    with    their    myriads    of  employees,   are, 


On    My   Way  to  Australia  311 

through  their  wives,  and  by  themselves,  continually  at  the 
feet  of  the  Jesuits,  who,  here,  more  than  in  any  other  place, 
really  swim  in  a  golden  sea. 

Nobody,  if  he  is  not  a  Koman  Catholic,  or  one  of  those  so- 
called  Protestants  who  give  their  daughters  and  their  sons  to 
the  nuns  and  the  Jesuits  to  be  educated,  has  much  hope 
of  having  a  lucrative  or  honourable  position  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

Entirely  given  to  quench  their  thirst  for  gold,  the  Ameri- 
cans of  San  Fransisco,  with  few  exceptions,  do  not  pay  any  at- 
tention to  the  dark  cloud  which  is  rising  at  the  horizon  of 
their  country.  Though  it  is  visible  that  that  cloud  is  filled 
with  rivers  of  blood  and  tears,  they  let  the  cloud  grow  and 
rise  without  even  caring  how  they  shall  escape  from  the  im- 
pending hurricane. 

It  does  not  take  a  long  residence  in  San  Francisco  to  see 
that  the  Jesuits  have  chosen  this  city  for  their  citadel  on 
this  continent.  Their  immense  treasures  give  them  a  power 
which  may  be  called  irresistible,  in  a  country  where  gold  is 
everything. 

It  is  to  San  Francisco  that  you  must  come  to  have  an  idea 
of  the  number  of  secret  and  powerful  organizations  with 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  prepares  herself  for  the  impend- 
ing conflict,  through  which  she  hopes  to  destroy  the  system 
of  education  and  every  vestige  of  human  rights  and  liberties 
in  the  United  States,  as  she  has  repeatedly  and  bravely 
boasted  in  her  most  popular  organs.  I  might  give  hundreds 
of  those  extracts;  but,  to  be  brief,  I  will  give  only  two: 

"The  Catholic  Church  numbers  one4hird  of  the  American 
people,  and  if  its  membership  increases  in  the  next  thirty 
years  as  it  has  for  the  thirty  past,  in  1900  Rome  will  have  a 
majority,  and  be  bound  to  take  this  country  and  keep  it. 
There  is;  ere  long,  to  be  a  state  religion  in  this  country,  and 
that  state  religion  is  to  be  Roman  Catholic. 

"The  Roman  Catholic  is  to  wield  his  vote  for  the  purpose 
of  securing  Catholic  ascendancy  in  this  country. 


312  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

"  All  legislatures  must  be  governed  by  the  will  of  God,  un- 
erringly indicated  by  the  Pope. 

"  Education  must  by  conducted  by  Catholic  authorities; 
and  under  education  the  opinions  of  the  individual  and  the 
utterances  of  the  press  are  included.  Many  opinions  are  to 
be  punished  by  the  secular  arm,  under  the  autlun-ity  of  the 
Church,  even  to  war  and  bloodshed." — Catholic  World,  July, 
1870. 

"  While  the  state  has  rights,  she  has  them  only  in  virtue 
and  by  permission  of  the  superior  authority;  and  that  au- 
thority can  only  be  expressed  through  the  Church. 

"Protestantism  of  every  form  has  not  and  never  can  have 
any  right  where  Catholicity  has  triumphed;  and,  therefore, 
we  lose  the  breath  we  expend  in  declaiming  against  bigotry 
and  intolerance,  and  in  favour  of  religious  liberty  or  the  right 
of  any  man  to  be  of  any  religion  as  best  pleases  him." — Cath- 
olic Review,  July,  1870. 

In  order  to  more  easily  drill  the  Roman  Catholics,  and 
prepare  them  for  the  impending  conflict,  the  Jesuits  have 
organized  them  into  a  great  number  of  secret  societies,  the 
principal  of  which  are: 

Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians. 

Irish  American  Society. 

Knights  of  St.  Patrick. 

St.  Patrick's  Cadets. 

St.  Patrick's  Mutual  Alliance. 

Apostles  of  Liberty. 

Benevolent  Sons  of  the  Emerald  Isle. 

Knights  of  St.  Peter. 

Knights  of  the  Red  Branch. 

Knights  of  Columbkill. 

Almost  all  these  secret  associations  are  military  ones. 
They  have  their  headquarters  in  San  Francisco,  but  their 
rank  and  file  are  scattered  all  over  the  United  States.  They 
number  700,000  soldiers  who,  under  the  name  of  U.  S.  A. 
Volunteer  Militia,  are  officered  by  the  most  skilled  generals 


On    My  Way    to    Australia  313 

and  officers  of  the  Republic.  For  it  is  a  fact,  to  which  the 
Protestant  Americans  do  not  sufficiently  pay  attention,  that 
the  Jesuits  have  been  shrewd  enough  to  have  a  vast  ma- 
jority of  Roman  Catholic  generals  and  officers  to  command 
the  armies  and  man  the  navy  of  the  United  States. 

Who  will  be  able  to  stand  against  a  power  supported  by 
700,000  soldiers,  well  drilled,  armed  with  the  best  modern 
arms,  officered  by  the  most  skilful  military  men  of  the 
country,  and  whose  treasurers  will  not  only  have  the  keys  of 
the  public  treasuries  of  this  vast  Republic,  but  who  will  be, 
in  great  part,  the  masters  of  the  untold  millions  dug  out  in 
the  mountains  of  California  and  Nevada? 

That  you  may  know  the  Christian  feelings  of  the  Jesuits 
of  San  Francisco  towards  Protestant  England,  I  give  you 
here  an  extract  of  the  address  of  Rev.  Father  Rooney  on 
St.  Patrick's  Day: 

"  Irish  Catholics,  trust  your  priests,  as  you  ever  have,  as  a 
nation;  and  when  the  propitious  moment  comes  to  settle  the 
accounts  of  brutal  old  England,  the  murderer  of  your  priests 
and  forefathers,  the  murderous  despoiler  of  your  sanctuaries, 
the  pilferer  of  your  possessions  and  the  starver  of  your 
people,  those  priests  will  bless  the  swords  that  you  use,  that 
it  may  cut  more  keenly;  the  bullet,  that  it  may  perforate 
more  deeply;  your  hands,  that  they  may  wield  the  weapon 
more  powerfully;  and  your  nerves,  that  you  may  the  more 
steadily  avenge  your  injured  mother  and  your  noble  ances- 
tors. Never  trust  an  enemy  that  has  deceived  us  so  often  as 
England,  and  violated  every  treaty  made  with  us.  You  may 
expect  nothing  from  her  except  through  the  cannon's  roar, 
the  whizzing  bullets,  and  the  flashing  scimitar.  But  let  us 
be  sure  that  we  are  ready  and  well  prepared  for  the  fray." 

Though  the  Jesuits  rule  supremely  in  San  Francisco,  and 
though  the  deleterious  atmosphere  of  Romanism,  which  is 
felt  everywhere,  coupled  with  that  thirst  for  gold  which 
rages  as  a  plague  in  almost  every  stage  of  society,  are  uni- 
versally visible,  the  Lord  has  kept  there  for  Himself  many 


314  Forty   Years  in    the  Church   of  Christ 

faithful  servants,  and  the  great  Captain  of  our  salvation 
counts  several  intrepid  soldiers  of  the  Gospel  around  His 
banner.  The  Rev.  Messrs.  Hemphill,  Fells,  Taylor,  Verrue, 
Stone,  Guard,  etc.,  are  working  with  faithfulness  in  this 
deserted  Gospel  field,  and  they  are  gathering  very  precious 
fruits  of  their  labours.  Two  missions  have  been  established 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Chinese,  which  God  has  already 
blessed  by  the  conversion  of  more  than  one  hundred  souls. 
Some  of  those  converts  have  already  gone  to  China  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  their  countrymen.  Let  us  pray  and  hope 
that  among  those  converts  there  will  be  a  Paul  whose  voice 
will  shake  and  pull  down  the  old  idols  of  that  remarkable 
people.  I  have  also  found  in  San  Francisco  and  Oakland  a 
good  number  of  my  dear  countrymen  who  have  given  up  the 
errors  of  Rome  to  accept  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Three  of 
them  are  near  relatives  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of 
Canada.  By  the  great  kindness  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Verrue,  I 
have  been  able  to  give  two  addresses  in  French  to  the  inter- 
esting congregation  of  French  speaking  people  which  his 
admirable  zeal  has  gathered.  Rev.  Mr.  Verrue  himself  is  a 
convert  from  Romanism,  and  his  labours  have  been  much 
blessed  here. 

But  if  San  Francisco  presents  a  sad  spectacle  to  the  eyes 
of  the  Christian,  it  is  not  so  in  Portland,  the  most  thriving 
city  of  Oregon,  through  which  I  had  to  pass  on  my  way  to 
the  prairies  of  Washington  Territory.  I  spent  there  what 
I  can  call  one  of  the  most  delightful  Sabbaths  of  my  life. 

After  a  voyage  of  three  days  from  San  Francisco  on  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  one  day  on  the  magnificent  river  Co- 
lumbia, I  arrived  in  Portland,  Oregon,  on  Saturday,  the  tenth 
of  August.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  Presbyte- 
rian pastor,  the  amiable,  zealous  and  learned  Mr.  Lindsay, 
being  absent,  my  heart  was  a  little  heavy  and  my  mind 
cloudy,  for  I  knew  nobody  in  that  city.  But  when  the 
steamer  was  just  moored  to  the  wharf,  and  as  I  was  inquiring 
to  know  the  name  of  the  most  respectable  hotel,  I  saw  a  gen- 


On   My    Way  to   Australia  315 

tleman  who  was  very  actively  engaged  in  looking  for  some 
one  he  wanted  to  meet.  I  said  to  myself:  "  Oh,  if  my  merci- 
ful God  had  heard  my  feeble  prayers,  and  sent  that  gentle- 
man, whose  face  looks  so  kind,  to  be  my  guardian  angel,  and 
take  me  by  the  hand  in  this  strange  city ! " 

Just  then  I  heard  his  voice  addressing  some  one  of  the 
crowd  of  passengers,  saying:  "  Is  not  Father  Chiniquy  here?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  I  answered;  "  here  I  am." 

"  Well,  please  come  this  way,"  replied  with  a  smile,  my 
new,  kind  friend. 

A  moment  after  I  was  by  his  side,  in  a  beautiful  carriage, 
drawn  by  two  splendid  horses,  going  to  his  mansion,  about  a 
mile  up  town.  On  the  way  I  learned  that  the  name  of  this 
noble  hearted  Christian  brother  was  William  Wadham,  and 
when  I  entered  his  house  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  was  one 
of  the  most  wealthy  merchants  of  the  State  of  Oregon.  After 
"he  had  introduced  me  to  his  wife,  who  is  a  descendant  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  whom  God  has  chosen  as  the  funda- 
mental stones  of  this  great  Republic,  he  introduced  me  to 
his  mother=in4aw,  Mrs.  Skinner,  who  has  this  last  ten  years 
lost  the  use  of  her  eyes,  but  whose  spiritual  eyes  see  day  and 
night  the  bright  lights  which  flow  from  the  bleeding  wounds 
of  the  Lamb.  I  felt  so  overwhelmed  by  the  floods  of  mercies 
which  my  heavenly  Father  was  pouring  upon  His  unworthy 
child  that  I  asked  that  Christian  family  to  kneel  with  me 
and  bless  Him.  But  the  words  were  half  suffocated  in  the 
tears  of  joy  and  gratitude  which  I  felt  for  having  been  taken 
into  such  Christian  and  good  quarters. 

The  next  day  was  a  Sabbath.  I  accepted  the  privilege  of 
speaking  of  the  mercies  of  God  towards  us  poor  perishing 
sinners.  But  what  I  want  to  say  is  what  I  have  seen  of  the 
manner  in  which  our  Christian  brother,  William  Wadham, 
spends  his  Sabbaths. 

After  his  breakfast,  from  eight  to  nine,  he  reads  to  his  ven- 
erable mother'in4aw  some  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of 
the  Scriptures,  with  the  most   edifying  commentaries,  and 


3i6  Forty    Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

they  talk  together  about  the  great  truths  of  Christianity  as 
I  never  heard  any  one  talk.  Every  word  they  exchange  to- 
gether about  the  love  of  Christ  is  like  burning  coals 
brought  by  the  angels  of  God  from  the  altar  which  is  before 
the  throne. 

At  ten  Mr.  Wadham  goes  to  prepare  everything  in  the  church 
for  the  Sabbath=school  and  the  choir;  for  the  Sabbath-school 
is  his  favourite  work,  and  he  is  the  leader  of  the  choir.  But 
we  must  see  his  cheerful  face  and  the  beam  of  joy  which  illu- 
minates his  eyes  when  he  is  going  to  and  fro,  almost  running 
up  and  down  the  stairs,  in  order  that  everything  may  be  in 
good  order  and  ready  for  the  hour  of  worship.  "I  prefer  one 
hour  passed  in  Thy  house,  O  Lord,  to  a  thousand  passed  in 
the  tents  of  sinners."  During  the  singing  at  the  Divine 
service,  you  constantly  hear  his  beautiful  voice,  and  you  feel 
that  his  heart  is  in  it.  The  public  morning  service  is  hardly 
finished,  when  you  see  him  rushing  to  the  large  basement, 
crowded  by  the  young  people  of  every  age  and  sex,  for  the 
Sabbath=scliool.  It  is  there  that  he  feels  at  home,  surrounded 
by  the  teachers  and  pupils  of  the  Sabbath = school.  With 
what  exquisite  politeness  and  piety  he  addresses  that  multi- 
tude! With  what  Christian  enthusiasm  he  leads  the  hymns 
and  mixes  his  voice  with  the  voices  of  his  hundred  pupils, 
old  and  young,  to  praise  the  Lord! 

It  seems  as  if  that  man  had  never  done  anything  but  that 
in  his  whole  life.  He  is,  there,  in  his  element,  as  the  eagle 
who  soars  on  his  wings  to  the  sky. 

After  the  Sabbath  school  he  hurries  home  to  take  a  hasty 
dinner  with  his  family.  But  the  meal  is  hardly  finished, 
when  his  carriage  is  at  the  door  for  a  new  excursion. 

"Have  you  any  objection  to  coming  with  me,  Father 
Chiniquy?"  said  he  in  his  smiling  way  of  talking. 

"  Where  are  you  going?"  I  asked. 

"  Fishing  in  the  streets  and  lanes,"  he  answered. 

"Yes,  please  take  me  with  you;  I  am  a  fisherman  also,"  I 
replied. 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  317 

And  quickly  the  splendid  horses  take  us  to  the  door  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 

"  Please,"  said  he,  "  go  to  the  other  side  of  the  street;  you 
will  be  in  the  shade;  the  sun  is  too  hot  here.  And,  to  obey  him, 
I  crossed  the  street,  not  understanding  what  would  come  next. 

But  I  had  not  waited  there  two  minutes  in  the  shade,  when 
I  saw  coming  over  after  me  twenty  or  thirty  young  gentle- 
men and  ladies,  who  surrounded  him.  After  he  had  saluted 
and  welcomed  them  in  his  unique  and  amiable  way,  he  drew 
from  his  coat  one  of  the  Moody  and  Sankey  hymn==books,  and 
started,  with  his  powerful  and  melodious  voice:  "  Rock  of 
Ages,  cleft  for  me,"  etc.,  which  the  others  sang  with  him 
with  a  power  and  effect  that  I  had  never  witnessed  before. 

You  may  imagine  the  magical  power  of  such  singing  in 
the  open  street  of  a  large  and  thriving  city,  crowded  with 
strangers  from  every  country,  not  only  from  America,  but 
from  Asia  and  Europe.  Nothing  could  be  more  amusing 
and  pleasing  to  me  than  to  see  the  young  and  the  old,  the 
poor  and  the  rich,  the  loafer  and  the  half=drunken  man,  with 
the  most  pious  ladies  and  gentlemen,  running  from  every 
side  to  hear  the  beautiful  concert  in  the  street.  Two  hymns 
had  not  been  sung  before  that  street  was  literally  filled  with 
people  drawn,  some  from  curiosity,  some  by  the  mere  exam- 
ple of  others,  some  to  take  part  in  the  songs  and  unite  them- 
selves with  the  choir. 

After  Mr.  Wadham  had  sung  half  an  hour  at  the  head 
of  that  selected  choir,  which  had  more  than  doubled  dur- 
ing that  time,  he  stopped,  and  said:  "Now,  my  friends,  we 
have  sung  the  praises  of  our  God,  let  us  go  upstairs  and  hear 
what  He  has  to  say  to  every  one  of  us.  Oh !  do  come  and 
spend  a  few  moments  with  us  in  meditation  and  prayer." 

There  is  no  need  to  say  that  five  minutes  later  the  large 
hall  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  filled  to 
its  utmost  capacity  by  the  multitude  whom  the  Lord  had 
brought  there,  from  every  corner  of  the  globe,  to  speak  to 
them  words  of  love,  peace  and  mercy. 


3i8  Forty  Years   in    the   Church   of  Christ 

And  who  was  there  again  to  preside  over  that  new  meeting 
and  lead  the  choir?  Mr.  Wndham.  But  this  time  his  face 
was  more  than  ever  beaming  with  joy,  and  his  voice  had  a 
power  and  a  melody  which  seemed  to  me  superhuman. 
That  meeting,  where  a  dozen  short  and  very  touching  ad- 
dresses were  given,  generally  by  new  converts,  lasted  one 
hour,  and  was  the  most  interesting  one  I  ever  attended. 
Among  the  speakers  we  heard  three  young  sailors  who  had 
recently  found  their  Saviour,  and  whose  words  fell  on  us  with 
a  power  which  verj'  few  can  forget.  Oh!  who  could  refrain 
their  tears  of  joy,  when  we  heard  one  of  those  young  British 
sailors  telling  us  that  the  whole  crew  of  their  magnificent 
ship,  with  their  captain,  had  lately  found  the  Saviour;  how 
they  had  asked  Him  to  tarry  with  them,  and  how,  since.  He 
had  been  their  most  precious  treasure,  their  strength  and 
their  joy.  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  to  you  my  joy  when 
I  saw  several  of  our  dear  French  Canadian  converts  from 
Rome  in  that  crowd  of  redeemed  souls!  One  of  those  French 
Canadian  converts,  an  old  traveler  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, a  well=educated  man,  had  been,  during  several  years  of 
his  life,  the  most  infamous  and  public  scandal  of  Portland 
— a  drunkard,  a  blasphemer,  an  atheist.  He  was  looked  upon 
as  an  incarnate  demon,  the  terror  of  the  Christians,  the  pillar 
and  strong  fortress  of  all  the  wicked  doers  of  the  country. 
But  one  day  some  Christian  ladies  said  to  each  other: 
"  Should  we  not  do  something  for  the  conversion  of  this  sin- 
ner? or  shall  we  let  him  continue  to  spread  the  pest  of  his 
impiety  and  scandal  without  an  efiPort  to  save  him?  Let  us 
go  and  pay  him  a  visit." 

A  few  hours  later,  half  a  dozen  of  the  most  respectable 
ladies  of  the  city  knocked  at  his  door. 

"  Walk  in,  ladies,  walk  in,"  said  the  notorious  man,  "  what 
is  it  you  wish,  I  am  at  your  service?' 

"  We  come  to  see  you,  and  pray  with  you,  my  dear  sir," 
answered  one  of  the  visiting  angels. 

"Pray  with   me!     Pray  with  me!    Ah!  ah!  ah!     You  are 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  319 

mistaken,  my  good  ladies.  Here  we  don't  pray,  but  we 
drink  and  curse  and  lead  a  jovial  life;  please  go  and  pray 
with  my  neighbour." 

"  But  we  will  pray  here,  and  sing  the  praises  of  the  Lord 
with  you,  my  friend,"  sweetly  answered  one  of  the  daughters 
of  Christ.  "You  are  too  much  of  a  gentleman  to  insult 
ladies  in  your  own  house,  and  turn  them  out." 

And  the  ladies,  on  their  knees,  with  their  faces  and  hands 
raised  to  God,  and  burning  tears  flowing  down  their  cheeks, 
made  such  prayers  as  Christian  ladies  only  can  send  to  the 
Mercy  Seat. 

The  desperate  sinner  tried  at  first  to  make  some  jokes  with 
some  of  his  companions  of  debauch.  He  turned  the  ladies 
into  ridicule,  and  laughed  at  them,  in  drinking  to  their 
their  health. 

But  nothing  could  stop  the  angels  of  mercy,  who  were  on 
their  knees,  from  sending  the  arrows  of  burning  Christian  love 
to  the  heart  of  the  guilty  man  through  their  ardent  suppli- 
cations to  the  seat  of  mercy.  Little  by  little,  the  crowd  of 
drinkers  left,  one  after  another,  and  our  prodigal  son  remained 
alone  in  the  midst  of  that  choir  of  seraphims  who  had  taken 
possession  of  his  house. 

When  alone  with  these  ladies,  whose  prayers  and  sublime 
hymns  were  filling  his  rooms,  he  tried  in  vain  to  shut  his 
ears,  in  order  not  to  hear:  but  his  ears  were  opened,  and  so 
widely  that  floods  of  new  light  were  flowing  through  them 
on  the  hardened  heart  and  the  guilty  soul. 

"  Is  it  possible,"  said  he  to  himself,  "that  there  is  a  God; 
that  He  has  seen  all  my  crimes  and  that  He  will  sooner  or 
later  call  me  to  account  for  them?  But  is  it  possible,  also, 
that  that  God  sends  to  me  these  praying  ladies  to  call  me  to 
repent,  and  will  forgive  me?" 

With  these  thoughts  in  his  mind,  he  leaves  the  ladies  and 
rushes  to  another  room.  He  shuts  the  door,  and,  abso- 
lutely beside  himself,  he  falls  on  his  knees,  and,  not  daring 
to  raise  his  eyes  to  God,  but  prostrating  his  face  to  the  floor, 


320  P'orty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

he  cries:  "Oh!  my  God!  my  God!  If  Thou  art  here  to  hear 
my  cries,  have  mercy  upon  me.  If  Thou  canst  forgive  such  a 
sinner,  forgive  me.  If  Thou  canst  save  me.  oh  do  save  me. 
I  come  to  Thee." 

He  had  no  sooner  finished  talking  these  few  words,  than 
his  heart  burst.  Torrents  of  tears  rolled  on  his  cheeks.  A 
new  name  had  been  written  in  the  book  of  life,  and  the  angels 
of  God  were  once  more  rejoicing  in  heaven  over  the  conver- 
sion of  a  sinner. 

But  let  us  come  back  to  our  dear  Christian  brother 
Wadhfim  and  follow  him  the  rest  of  his  Sabbath  day. 

The  meeting  in  the  Y,  M.  C.  A.  rooms  ended  at  4  p.  m. 
Then,  turning  himself  towards  me,  he  said  again,  with  a 
smile,  "  Would  you  be  so  kind  as  to  accompany  me  in  my 
visits  to  our  poor,  dear  sick  people?"  "With  pleasure,"  I 
answered. 

And  on  we  went  through  the  city,  drawn,  again,  by  the 
splendid  horses,  in  his  beautiful  carriage. 

By  the  singular  providence  of  God,  the  first  poor  sick 
man  whom  we  visited  was  from  Montreal,  a  very  dear  friend 
of  mine,  an  Orangeman,  who  had  been  wounded  when  fighting 
hard  one  evening  to  prevent  the  Roman  Catholics  from  killing 
me.  He  was  then  lying  on  a  bed  of  suffering;  but  that  bed, 
with  the  rest  of  the  house,  was  a  model  of  neatness.  You  may 
imagine  his  joy  and  mine,  when  we  met  together,  there,  so  far 
from  Canada.  On  his  right  hand  was  his  Bible  and  at  his 
left  the  Weekly  New  York  Witness,  published  by  a  venerable 
Christian. 

After  spending  an  hour  in  that  way,  exhorting  the 
sick  and  dying  to  repentance,  and  praying  with  them,  we  had 
to  come  home  to  take  our  tea  at  about  six.  But  this  was 
hardly  finished,  when  my  Christian  host  said,  with  one  of  his 
unique  smiles,  "I  hope  you  M'ill  not  rebuke  me  if  I  ask  you 
to  accompany  me  to  another  meeting,  where  many  like  to 
prepare  themselves  for  the  evening  service  by  praying  and 
singing.     As  you  will  give  us  the  evening  address  at   7:30, 


On    My  Way   to   Australia  321 

you  will  be  on  the  spot  and  join  with  us  in  these  preparatory 
exercises." 

I  went  again  with  him  to  this  last  gathering  of  Christian 
men  and  women,  where,  for  a  whole  hour,  I  saw  and 
heard  things  that  filled  my  heart  with  joy.  Then  I  gave 
my  address  to  one  of  the  most  crowded  and  intelligent  au- 
diences before  which  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  speak  of  the 
mercies  of  God.  During  the  evening  service  it  was  still  the 
magnificent  voice  of  our  devoted  Christian  brother  which  led 
the  choir.  It  was  nearly  ten  at  night  when  we  were  back 
home.  I  was  in  fear  lest  he  should  look  broken  down  and 
exhausted  after  such  a  day  of  work.  But  he  never  looked  so 
happy  and  cheerful  as  at  the  end  of  such  superhuman  labour. 
He  asked  me  to  help  him  to  thank  God  for  His  mercies 
towards  us  during  that  day. 

Oh!  when  will  the  day  come  when,  in  every  city  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  the  rich  and  the  wealthy  will  put 
themselves  at  the  service  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ  as  completely  as  that  Mr.  Wadham. 

In  1858,  not  long  after  the  greatest  part  of  my  colony  of 
Illinois  had  given  up  the  errors  of  Popery,  I  heard  that  one 
of  our  most  respected  families  was  to  leave  Kankakee  for  the 
coasts  of  the  Pacific,  in  the  state  of  Oregon.  I  did  all  that  I 
could  to  dissuade  them,  but  in  vain.  In  those  days  there  were 
no  railways  to  cross  the  plains;  there  was  no  other  way  but 
to  travel  nearly  3,000  miles;  a  journey  which  generally  occu- 
pied six  months,  I  put  before  the  eyes  of  my  friend  (his 
name  was  Joseph  Goyette)  the  dangers  of  every  kind  for 
himself,  his  wife  and  young  children,  not  only  from  the 
fatigue,  but  from  attacks  of  wild  Indians  who  were  constantly 
lying  in  wait  for  the  emigrants,  to  plunder  and  kill  them.  I 
showed  him  that  he  was  not  only  exposing  his  life,  but  that 
he  was  ruining  himself  by  that  long  and  costly  journey.  He 
listened  to  my  observations  with  a  respectful  and  breathless 
attention,  and  answered  me:  "Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  are  right 
when  you  say  that  I  expose  my  life  and  the  very  existence  of 


322  Forty   Years    in   the   Church  of  Christ 

my  family;  you  are  also  correct  when  you  say  that  the  ex- 
pense of  crossing  that  immense  territory  will  ruin  mo;  but 
God  knows  the  motives  which  prompt  me  to  leave  this  place 
and  go  so  far  away  from  you,  and  I  hope  He  will  jirotect 
me.  I  will  tell  you  those  motives:  so  long  that  you  were 
faithful  to  your  oaths,  and  a  good  priest  of  Rome,  you 
know  I  was  among  your  most  devoted  friends,  and  noth- 
ing was  more  pleasing  to  me  than  your  presence  in  my 
house.  I  liked  your  company,  and  I  was  among  the  most 
punctual,  with  my  family,  to  attend  your  church;  but  now 
you  are  an  apostate.  I  know  very  well  that  it  is  your  inten- 
tion to  make  us  all  Protestants.  My  family  is  already  shaken. 
I  feel  myself  unable  to  answer  your  sophisms  and  resist  your 
efforts.  I  see  only  one  way  of  escape  from  your  perverse  influ- 
ence and  example.  It  is  to  put  such  a  distance  between  you  and 
me  that  I  shall  not  hear  any  more  of  you.  When  there  will 
be  the  whole  continent  between  us,  I  shall  have  nothing  to 
fear  from  your  proselytizing  efforts.  If  I  lose  my  fortune,  I 
shall  save  my  faith.  If  I  have  to  die  on  the  plains  of  the 
West,  God,  who  knows  why  I  go  there,  will  give  me  and  my 
family  a  better  life." 

Though  my  heart  was  broken  at  the  deplorable  illusions  of 
that  dear  friend,  I  could  not  but  admire  his  noble  sentiments. 
I  left  him  but  day  and  night  I  prayed  God  for  him  and  his 
family.  It  seemed  that  they  had  become  even  dearer  to  me 
after  that  conversation.  Two  or  three  days  before  his  leaving 
I  paid  him  a  last  visit  I  brought  with  me  a  Bible  (the 
Roman  Catholic  edition,  of  Sacy),  and  presented  it  to  him, 
saying:  "My  dear  Goyette,  please  accept  from  me  this  Bible 
as  a  last  token  of  our  long  friendship.  It  is  a  Roman  Catholic 
Bible;  you  are  allowed  to  read  it  by  your  Church."  Looking 
at  me,  with  visible  marks  of  indignation,  he  answered:  "  It  is 
because  you  have  too  much  read  that  dangerous  book  that 
you  are  lost  to=day.     I  will  never  read  it;  you  may  keep  it." 

These  words  struck  me  as  if  they  had  been  a  two-edged 
sword.     I  fell  on  my  knees  at  the  feet  of  my   unfortunate 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  323 

friend,  and  with  tears  trickling  down  my  cheeks,  I  said: 
"  My  dear  Goyette,  for  God's  sake,  do  not  refuse  such  a  gift. 
It  is  the  very  testament  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Do  not  re- 
ject it."  By  the  great  mercy  of  God,  my  friend,  with  a  trem- 
bling hand,  accepted  the  gift,  and  in  pressing  our  hands  for  the 
last  time,  he  mingled  his  tears  with  mine.  One  or  two  days 
later,  he  left  Kankakee  for  Oregon;  and  for  many  years  I 
heard  nothing  of  him,  except  that  on  the  way  he  was  at- 
tacked by  Indians,  and  that  his  horses  and  waggons,  with  his 
furniture,  had  been  stolen  by  the  merciless  savages.  But 
though  I  heard  no  news  from  him,  I  never  passed  a  day  with^ 
out  sending  my  humble  but  ardent  supplications  to  the 
Mercy  Seat  for  that  so  interesting  family. 

How  can  I  tell  you  my  joy,  when  twelve  years  later,  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Mrs.  Goyette  saying:  "  Help  us  to  bless 
the  Lord  for  His  great  mercies  towards  my  husband  and  my 
family.  We  have  read  the  precious  Bible  you  gave  us  before 
we  left  Kankakee,  and  through  that  reading,  the  saving  light 
as  it  is  in  Jesus  has  come  to  us.  We  have  detected  the 
abominable  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  we  have  given 
them  up.  It  is  no  more  to  the  feet  of  the  priests  or  the  idols 
of  the  Pope  that  we  shall  go  to  be  saved,  but  it  is  to  the  feet 
of  Jesus.  Not  only  my  family  have  given  up  the  errors  of 
Popery,  through  that  Bible,  but  a  great  number  of  French 
Canadians  who  are  settled  around  us  are  shaken.  They  say 
that  if  you  would  come  and  visit  uc  they  would  also  accept 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  rule  and  guide  of  their 
lives.  Can  you  not  come  yourself,  or  send  us  a  missionary? 
for  we  are  here  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd." 

I  have  no  words  to  tell  you  of  my  joy  at  the  reception  of 
such  glorious  news.  In  my  answer  I  promised  a  visit,  if  in 
my  power;  either  to  go  and  visit  them  myself  or  send  them 
one  of  "our  missionaries;  but  insurmountable  obstacles  had 
constantly  made  the  accomplishment  of  my  desire  impos- 
sible. 

Year  after  year  I  had  to  postpone  my  so  desired  visit,  till 


324  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

the  doctor  told  me  that  the  best,  if  not  the  only,  way  of  reno- 
vating the  strength  of  my  exhausted  lungs  was  to  make  a  long 
voyage  on  the  Pacific  Ocean.  One  of  the  principal  reasons 
which  determined  to  turn  my  steps  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean 
was  that  it  might  give  me  a  chance  to  visit  that  family,  with 
the  numerous  neophytes  they  were  preparing  to  follow  Christ. 
When  I  was  in  San  Francisco  I  learned  that  I  had  only  to 
travel  north  800  miles  to  reach  the  settlement  of  the  Goyette 
family,  and  that  five  or  six  days  navigation,  on  one  of  the 
splendid  steamers  of  the  Pacific,  would  land  me  near  the  place 
where  they  had  gone  with  the  hope  that  they  would  never 
hear  any  more  of  the  apostate  Chiniquy,  and  that  they  would 
be  forever  out  of  the  reach  of  his  pernicious  influence.  No! 
you  will  never  have  any  idea  of  their  joy  and  mine,  when  I 
entered  their  happy  home  and  knelt  with  them  to  thank  and 
bless  God  for  the  great  things  He  had  done  in  their  midst. 
I  spent  thirteen  days  among  those  dear  countrymen,  going, 
day  after  day,  from  house  to  house,  to  carry  the  good  tidings  of 
salvation;  and  I  do  not  exaggerate,  when  I  tell  you  that  these 
days  must  be  put  among  the  happiest  of  my  life.  As  the  roads 
were  very  bad  in  those  new  regions,  I  had  to  walk  the  greater 
part  of  the  time.  But  to  walk  through  those  forests  of  giant 
pine-trees,  measuring  more  than  twenty=five  feet  in  diame- 
ter, and  whose  gum  filled  the  air  with  such  a  perfume  that 
one  stops  at  every  minute  to  enjoy  and  express  his  admira- 
tion, is  the  most  pleasant  one  can  imagine.  Several  times, 
the  road  bringing  me  along  the  shores  of  the  Cowlitz  river,  I 
had  only  to  throw  my  line  for  a  moment  into  the  water  to 
catch  some  excellent  trout,  which  were  a  welcome  offering  to 
the  families  I  was  visiting.  Had  I  not  all  the  manners  of 
the  true  apostle  of  old,  when  at  the  setting  sun,  I  was  knock- 
ing at  the  door  of  some  of  those  dear  countrymen,  bearing  a 
Bible  in  my  right  hand,  and  a  dozen  fishes  in  my  left? 
What  delicious  hours—  I  should  better  say  nights — I  spent  in 
explaining  the  Scriptures  and  showing  the  mercies  of  God 
who  has  so  much  loved  us  that  He  has  sent  His  eternal  Son, 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  325 

Jesus,  to  save  us  by  dying  on  Calvary.  How  can  I  tell  you 
the  breathless  attention,  the  unspeakable  joy,  of  those  families 
in  listening  to  the  simple,  but  so  sublime,  teachings  of  the 
Gospel.  And  when  between  two  and  three  o'clock,  after  mid- 
night, they  were  asking  me,  "  What  must  we  do  to  be  saved? 
We  reject  forever  the  errors  of  Rome,  and  will  accept  Jesus 
as  a  gift.  In  that  great  gift  alone  we  put  our  trust  and  sal- 
vation. Let  Jesus,  the  great  gift  of  God,  make  us  pure  with 
His  blood  and  eternally  happy  with  His  Word."  Yes!  when 
it  became  evident  to  me,  not  only  by  their  burning  words  of 
faith,  but  by  their  tears  of  joy,  that  salvation  had  entered  into 
that  house  just  as  formerly  it  did  into  the  house  of  Zaccheus, 
and  that  their  conversion  was  as  prompt,  as  sincere,  will 
you  be  surprised  if  I  tell  you  that  I  was  beside  myself  with 
joy? 


CHAPTER  XXX 

On  Board  Steamer  City  of  Sydney.    Honolulu 

I  left  San  Francisco  for  Australia  on  the  second  day  of 
September,  on  the  magnificent  steamer,  City  of  Sydney. 
That  ship  is  one  of  the  giants  of  the  sea  by  her  size  and 
strength,  measuring  334  feet,  with  engines  of  3,000  horse 
power.  She  was  commanded  by  Captain  Dearborn,  one  of  the 
most  ijolished  gentlemen  and  brave  sailors  who  ever  manned 
a  ship.  We  were  about  three  hundred  fifty  passengers 
on  board,  one  hundred  fifty  of  them  on  the  firstclass  list. 

I  have  never  seen  anything  more  solemn  and  sad  than  the 
few  moments  which  preceded  our  departure.  When  the  first 
signal  was  given  to  those  who  had  followed  their  friends  or 
relatives  to  leave  and  clear  the  deck,  an  indescribable  scene 
of  desolation  took  place  which  would  have  melted  the  hardest 
heart.  There  were  not  less  than  one  thousand  people  on 
board  then,  in  the  midst  of  whom  I  was  an  absolute  stranger. 
As  I  was  perfectly  alone,  and  free  to  hear  and  see  everything, 
I  chose  a  commanding  place  from  which,  as  much  as  possible, 
nothing  could  escape  my  eyes  and  my  ears.  Who  can  depict 
the  sudden  rush  of  that  crowd  into  the  arms  of  each  other, 
when  the  whistle  had  given  the  orders  to  leave?  Who  can 
tell  the  tears  and  sobs,  the  convulsive  embraces  and  the  deso- 
lating separations  of  that  hour? 

Here,  a  tall  lady,  surrounded  by  half  a  dozen  children,  was 
bathing  with  tears  the  face  of  her  husband  as  if  she  had  no 
hope  to  see  him  again.  There,  sisters  and  brothers  were  press- 
ing each  other  to  their  bosoms,  unable  to  speak  except  with 
their  sobs  and  their  cries.  A  little  further  on,  a  young 
married  lady  had  her  face  almost  buried  on  the  breast  of  her 
desolated  husband.     She  could  not  utter  a  single  word;  but 

326 


On    My  Way    to    Australia  327 

the  rivers  of  tears  which  were  trickling  down  her  cheeks 
told  me  more  eloquently  than  any  words  that  she  would  have 
preferred  death  to  such  a  long  separation.  Very  near  to  me 
a  beautiful  little  girl  about  eight  or  nine  years  old  was  hang- 
ing convulsively  to  the  neck  of  her  pale  and  sickly  mother, 
crying:  "Dear  mother!  Dear  mother!  Oh,  do  not  leave  me 
alone  here!  I  will  be  dead  when  you  come  back!  Take  me 
with  you,  dear  mamma!  I  cannot  let  you  go  alone!  I  will 
never  see  you  any  more!  What  have  I  done  that  you  forsake 
me  to-day?  You  have  always  been  so  kind  to  me!"  And  the 
tears  of  the  poor  mother  were  mixed  with  the  tears  of  her 
darling  child  when  she  was  pressing  her,  evidently  for  the 
last  time,  on  her  heart.  An  elder  brother,  himself  bathed  in 
tears,  had  to  take  by  force  his  little  sister  out  of  his  fainting 
mother's  grasiD.  Dear  little  girl!  Unfortunate  young  man! 
You  may  weep  and  cry,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  you  will 
never  see,  any  more,  your  loving  mother  on  this  side  of  the 
grave;  for  merciless  death  has  already  put  on  her  face  the 
signs  of  an  incurable  consumption.  Old  and  young  were 
parting  from  friends  dearer  to  them  than  life.  No!  Never  a 
more  touching  spectacle  can  be  put  before  the  eyes  of  a  man; 
and  when  that  man  himself  has  to  leave,  far  away,  behind,  his 
own  beloved  children,  his  home,  his  friends,  his  country, 
that  he  fears  lest,  perhaps,  he  will  never  see  them  again,  you 
may  believe  me,  a  very  dark  cloud  comes  over  that  man's 
soul.  Happy  is  he,  then,  if,  putting  his  trust  in  God  his 
Father,  he  throws  himself  into  His  arms,  and  goes  to  shed 
his  silent  tears  at  the  feet  of  the  One  who  has  said  to  the  dis- 
tressed children  of  Adam,  "Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  who  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 

The  distance  we  had  to  run  from  San  Francisco  to  Aus- 
tralia was  more  than  seven  thousand  miles,  over  a  sea  where 
myriads  of  men  have  already  found  a  watery  grave  through 
shoals,  rocks,  waves  and  storms,  by  which  thousands  of  noble 
ships  have  been  wrecked.  In  vain  the  traveler  who  starts  on 
such  a  voyage  arms  himself  with  a  strong  courage.     In  vain 


328  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

he  hopes  for  the  best.  A  sudden,  a  terrible  vision  of  wrecks, 
storms  and  horrible  deaths  flashes  through  his  mind  in  that 
touching  hour. 

Slowly  the  giant  steamer  left  her  moorings,  and  with  maj- 
esty she  crossed  the  waters,  which  bathes  the  feet  of  the 
proud  Queen  of  the  Pacific,  to  turn  her  bow  towards  the 
ocean.  In  less  than  half  an  hour  we  had  passed  the  Golden 
Gates  of  the  magnificent  port  of  San  Francisco.  It  was  there 
that,  three  weeks  before,  when  going  to  the  Cowlitz  prairies 
of  Washington  Territory,  on  the  steamer  Idaho,  I  was  the 
witness  of  one  of  the  most  sublime  and  heroic  deeds.  The 
sixth  of  August,  we  were  just  entering  the  Pacific  Ocean,  when 
every  one  on  board  was  struck,  as  by  a  thunder^bolt,  by  the 
cry:  "  A  man  overboard! "  And,  indeed,  there,  in  the  midst  of 
the  furious  waves,  we  saw  the  distressing  spectacle  of  a  man 
struggling  to  save  his  life,  and  calling  for  help.  The  rapid 
steamer  was  going  at  full  speed,  and  in  a  few  minutes  she  had 
made  a  serious  distance  between  us  and  that  unfortunate  man. 
The  order  was  immediately  given  by  the  captain  to  stop  the 
engines  and  launch  the  life=boat  to  the  sea.  But  before  this 
could  be  done,  what  was  our  surprise  and  admiration  to  see  a 
young  man,  apparently  feeble  and  powerless,  throw  down 
his  overcoat,  and  jump  from  the  upper  deck  into  the  foam 
ing  sea  to  save  his  perishing  fellow=man.  Oh!  what  a 
spectacle  of  unsurpassed  grandeur  and  sublimity  to  see  him 
fighting  the  furious  waves,  and  swimming  with  superhuman 
efPorts  after  the  perishing  one.  The  wind  was  very  stormy 
and  those  who  have  passed  the  Golden  Gates  know  how 
terrible  and  irresistible  are  the  waves  of  the  Pacific  on  that 
very  spot.  Again  and  again  we  were  terror-struck  as  we 
saw,  from  the  deck,  those  furious  waves  thundering  and  roll- 
ing like  mountains  over  the  young  hero.  Sometimes  he 
disappeared  from  sight,  and  we  thought  he  was  drowned  and 
forever  buried  under  the  roaring  billows.  It  was  not 
surprising  to  see  tears  coming  down  the  cheeks  of  the  hardest 
men,  nor  to  hear   the   heartfelt   cries   that   came   from   all- 


On   My   Way   to  Australia  329 

both  men  and  women.  But  suddenly,  the  hero's  head  was 
seen  again  over  the  furious  waves;  he  was  swimming 
with  all  his  might  to  save  the  drowning  stranger.  He, 
really,  like  a  giant,  when  raising  his  noble  head  above  the 
white  crests  of  the  furious  waves,  was  fearlessly  struggling 
against  the  bottomless  and  raging  Pacific  Ocean  to  wrench  a 
victim  from  its  fury.  But  how  our  sentiment  and  admira- 
tion increased  when  we  learned  that  that  young  man  was 
newly  married  in  England  and  immensely  rich.  He  had  then 
forgotten  his  fortune,  his  wife,  his  friends,  his  country;  he 
had  forgotten  himself  to  save  a  stranger.  But  that  stranger 
was  a  fellow^man — a  brother — to  him. 

In  vain  we  cried  to  him  that  the  unfortunate  man  whom 
he  was  trying  to  save  had  sunk  down  and  disappeared  for- 
ever. The  noise  of  the  wind  and  the  waves  prevented  him 
from  hearing  anything.  He  continued  to  struggle  for  half 
an  hour  till  exhausted  and  out  of  breath,  nearly  perishing 
himself,  he  was  rescued  by  the  life-boat  and  brought  on 
board.  The  name  of  that  young  English  man  was  Thumburg 
Cropper. 

So  long  as  noble  England  will  train  her  sons  to  such  heroic 
deeds,  she  will  be  worthy  to  march  at  the  head  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  God  will  make  her  glorious  flag  respected  and 
feared  on  every  land  and  sea. 

Honolulu,  where  we  landed  on  the  ninth,  and  stopped  ten 
hours,  means,  "  The  Paradise  of  the  Pacific,"  and  it  deserves 
its  name.  After  seven  days  of  seeing  nothing  but  the  blue 
sea  and  the  skies,  the  traveler  feels  inexpressible  sentiments 
of  pleasure  in  going  around  the  grand  and  majestic  promontory 
of  Diamond  Head,  and  passing  at  the  foot  of  the  volcanic 
mountains,  which  border  the  ocean,  to  reach  the  "Earthly 
Paradise,"  which  the  mighty  and  merciful  God  has  made 
there  in  the  very  midst  of  the  ocean.  Our  steamer  had  to 
pass  very  near  the  coral  reef,  against  which  the  ocean  breaks 
her  mighty  waves  with  a  thundering  noise  from  one  end  of  the 
year  to  the  other,  before  we  entered  the  narrow  passage  which 


330  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of*  Christ 

leads  us  into  the  port.  I  confess,  here,  my  perfect  inability 
to  do  justice  to  the  subject  on  which  I  have  to  write.  One 
of  the  first  thinjjjs  which  struck  us  was  a  multitude  of  objects, 
which  we  took  at  first  for  the  heads  of  big  fishes  swimming 
around  the  shiiD.  They  moved  with  such  rapidity,  plunging 
and  coming  to  the  surface  with  such  amazing  ease,  that  it 
took  some  time  before  I  could  persuade  myself  that  those 
were  not  fishes,  but  young  boys  from  twelve  to  eighteen  years 
old.  More  than  fifty  twenty=five  cent  pieces  were  thrown  by 
ladies  and  gentlemen  from  the  deck  into  the  deep  waters,  and 
not  a  single  one  of  them  was  lost.  They  had  hardly  touched 
the  surface  of  the  sea  when,  as  quick  as  lightning,  every 
swimmer  plunged  and  disappeared,  making  the  waters  boil 
over  them  as  if  a  thousand  big  stones  had  been  thrown  into 
them.  But,  within  one  minute,  we  were  amazed  by  the  sight 
of  the  swimmers  coming  up  to  the  surface  with  the  twenty= 
five  cent  pieces  between  their  teeth.  At  last  I  took  two  ten= 
cent  pieces,  and  threw  them  over  their  heads  as  far  as  I  could, 
thinking  that  the  smallness  of  those  pieces  of  money  would 
make  it  impossible  to  see  and  grasp  them  below  the  big  waves. 
But  in  less  than  half  a  minute  two  of  the  swimmers  were 
laughing  on  the  surface  with  my  ten-cent  pieces  between  their 
white  teeth. 

"  You  told  me,"  I  said  to  a  gentleman  of  Honolulu  who  was 
among  the  passengers,  "that  there  are  at  least  15,000  people 
in  your  city;  but  where  are  the  houses  to  lodge  so  many  peo- 
ple? With  the  exception  of  the  steeples  of  two  churches  we 
see  almost  nothing  but  trees."  He  answered  me  with  a  smile. 
"  It  is  just  so.  Our  houses  are  invisible.  They  are  so  well 
covered  with  flowers,  and  surrounded  by  shades  trees  and 
fruit,  that  you  cannot  see  them.  But  come  on  shore  and  you 
will  find  them."  And  it  was  so;  those  houses  were  like  the 
humming=bird's  nests,  concealed  behind  a  real  forest  of  passion 
flowers,  roses,  orange,  banana  and  cocoanut  trees;  algoraba, 
hibiscus,  breadfruit,  mango,  unirola  trees,  and  other  trees 
and  flowers  the  names  of  wliich  are  uidinown    to    me.     Fair 


On   My   Way  to  Australia  33 1 

city  of  the  most  happy  homes!  Bright  and  fragrant  blossoms 
of  every  clime  unite  to  add  charm  to  this  gem  of  the  Pacific. 

Every  one  you  meet  in  that  city  has  a  smile  on  his  lips, 
and  kind  words  on  his  tongue,  and  a  friendly  wish  in  his 
heart  for  you.  I  never  saw  such  cheerful  faces,  never  heard 
such  joyous  laughter,  never  felt  my  hand  pressed  with  such 
warm-hearted  feeling  as  in  Honolulu.  It  seems  there  is  a 
smile  on  every  flower  you  touch,  on  every  fruit  you  taste,  and 
in  every  tree  you  see.  Nay;  you  see  or  feel  a  smile  in  every 
breath  of  air  you  breathe  in  Honolulu.  The  atmosphere  is  very 
pure;  the  air  from  the  sea  and  the  mountains  is  very  fragrant 
and  perfumed.  When  one  is  in  Honolulu  with  its  heaps  of 
oranges,  bananas,  watermelons,  muskmelons,  strawberries, 
apples,  plums,  pineapples  and  cocoanuts,  with  its  air  per- 
fumed by  flowers  of  every  hue  and  color — rose,  orange,  car- 
mine, and  primroses  blue  as  the  sea,  or  white  as  snow, — 
he  is  tempted  to  say  with  Peter:  "Lord,  it  is  good  for  us 
to  be  here;  let  us  build  here  a  tabernacle." 

It  is  said  that  these  islands  were  discovered  by  Captain 
Cook  on  the  19th  of  January,  1778,  but  it  is  well  proved  that 
the  intrepid  Spanish  sailors,  Quiros  and  Manita,  had  visited 
them  in  1696.  Nevertheless,  it  is  well  authenticated  that  the 
celebrated  Captain  Cook  was  killed  on  one  of  these  islands, 
called  Hawaii,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1779,  a  few  days 
after  having  consented  to  be  worshiped  as  a  god  by  the 
heathen  inhabitants  in  one  of  their  temples.  But  if  these 
islands  are  remarkable  for  their  incomparable  beauty,  salu- 
brity of  climate,  the  incredible  fertility  of  their  soil,  the 
almost  infinite  variety  of  their  fruits,  and  the  unsurpassed 
grandeur  and  magnificence  of  their  sceneries,  and  the  terrible 
and  almost  daily  eruptions  of  volcanoes  of  their  mountains, 
they  are  still  more  remarkable  for  the  marvelous  evangelical 
work  which  has  made  them  Christian,  to  day,  when  they  were 
all  plunged  into  the  darkest  night  of  idolatry  only  seventy 
years  ago.  The  history  of  the  conversion  of  that  nation  is 
one  of  the  most  admirable  pages  of  the  history  of  the  Church 


332  Korty   Years   in   the  Church   of  Christ 

of  Christ.  It  has  been  my  privilege  to  be  the  guest  of  one 
of  the  apostles  of  that  nation,  the  venerable  Mr.  S.  C.  Damon, 
and  I  have  heard  from  the  very  lips  of  that  apostle  of  the 
islands  the  following  thrilling  facts.  I  am  sorry  that  I  can- 
not enter  into  the  details  of  that  marvelous  transformation. 
I  must  content  myself  to  give  a  few  extracts  of  the  memoirs 
of  one  of  the  gospel  ministers  whom  God  had  chosen  for  the 
instruments  of  His  mercies  towards  that  nation. 

The  islanders  cast  off  their  idolatry  in  1819,  but  it  was  not 
till  1835  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coan  arrived  in  Hilo,  where  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Lyman  had  been  working  day  and  night  for  some 
time,  and  had  produced  a  marked  change  in  the  social  and 
religious  condition  of  the  people.  Mr.  Coan  was  a  fervid 
speaker  and  a  strong  man  morally  and  physically.  There 
were  15,000  natives,  then,  in  the  district  of  Hilo,  and  its 
extremities  were  one  hundred  miles  apart.  As  there  were 
no  horses,  the  whole  distance  had  to  be  traveled  on  foot  or  in 
canoes,  which  could  not  be  done  without  perils  of  every  kind 
to  limbs  and  life.  He  had  sometimes  to  climb  with  his  hands 
and  feet,  or  to  be  let  down  by  ropes  from  tree  to  tree  and  from 
crag  to  crag  in  the  mountainous  district.  Many  times  he 
swam  across  the  rivers  with  a  rope  to  prevent  him  from  being 
carried  away.  His  smaller  weekly  number  of  sermons  was 
six  or  seven,  and  the  larger  from  twenty = five  to  forty.  Before 
the  end  of  the  year  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Coan  had  made  the  circuit 
of  Hawaii,  a  foot  and  canoe  trip  of  300  miles,  in  which  he 
nearly  suffered  canoe  wreck  twice.  In  all,  he  had  admitted 
into  the  Christian  Church,  by  baptism,  12,000,  besides  4,000 
infants. 

But  let  us  hear  him  speaking,  himself,  of  the  first  com- 
munion he  administered  to  his  dear  converts:  "  The  old  and 
decrepit,  the  lame,  the  blind,  the  maimed,  the  paralytic,  and 
those  afflicted  with  diverse  diseases  and  torments,  those  with 
eyes,  noses,  lips  and  limbs  consumed,  with  features  distorted 
and  figures  deformed  and  loathsome,  came  hobbling  upon 
their  staves,  or  led  and  borne  by  others,  to  the  table  of  the 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  ^^3 

Lord.  Among  the  strong,  you  might  have  seen  the  hoary 
priest  of  idolatry,  with  hands  but  recently  washed  from  the 
blood  of  human  victims,  together  with  thieves,  adulterers, 
highway  robbers,  murderers  and  mothers  whose  hands  reeked 
with  the  blood  of  their  own  children.  It  seemed  like  one  of 
the  crowds  the  Saviour  gathered,  and  on  which  He  pronounced 
the  words  of  healing." 

Now,  let  me  give  the  history  of  the  conversion  of  one  of 
the  most  celebrated  and  blood-thirsty  priests  of  the  idols,  in 
the  simple  but  so  interesting  language  of  Mr.  Coan:  "That 
priest  was  six  feet  five  inches  in  height,  and  his  sister,  who 
was  co=ordinate  with  him  in  authority,  had  a  scarcely  inferior 
altitude.  His  chief  business  was  to  keep  Pele  appeased — 
Pele  being  the  goddess  of  the  Volcanoes,  the  most  merciless 
and  revengeful  goddess  of  the  world.  He  lived  on  the  shore, 
but  went  often  to  the  top  of  the  volcano  Kilanea  with  sacri- 
fices. If  a  human  victim  were  needed,  he  had  only  to  point 
to  a  native,  and  the  unfortunate  wretch  was  at  once  strangled. 
He  was  not  only  the  embodiment  of  heathen  piety,  but  of 
heathen  crimes;  robbery  was  his  pastime.  His  temper  was 
so  fierce  and  so  marked  that  no  native  dared  to  tread  in  his 
shadow;  for  treading  on  his  shadow  was  immediate  death  to 
the  guilty  one.  More  than  once  he  had  killed  a  man  for  the 
sake  of  food  and  clothes  not  worth  fifty  cents.  He  was  a 
thoroughly  wicked  savage.  Curiosity  attracted  him  into  one 
of  our  Christian  meetings,  and  the  giant  fell  under  the  resist- 
less, mysterious  influence  which  was  metamorphosing  thou- 
sands of  Hawaiians.  '  I  have  been  deceived,'  he  said,  '  and  I 
have  deceived  others;  I  have  lived  in  darkness,  and  did  not 
know  the  true  God.  I  worshiped  what  was  not  God.  I  re- 
nounce it  all.  The  true  God  has  come.  He  speaks.  I  bow 
down  to  Him.    I  wish  to  be  His  son.' 

"The'priestess,  his  sister,  came  soon  afterwards,  and  they 
remained  here  several  months,  for  their  instruction.  They 
were  then  about  seventy  years  old,  but  they  imbibed  the 
spirit  of  the  New  Testament  so  thoroughly  that  they  became 


334  Forty  Years   in    the   Church   of  Christ 

as  <?entle.  loving  and  quiet  as  little  children.  After  a  long 
probationary  period,  they  were  baptized,  and  after  several 
years  of  pious  and  lovely  living,  they  passed  gently  and  lov- 
ingly away. 

"  In  1867,  the  old  church  at  Hilo  was  divided  into  seven 
congregations,  six  of  them  with  native  pastors.  To  meet  the 
wants  of  the  widely  scattered  people,  fifteen  churches  have 
been  built,  holding  from  500  to  1000  people.  The  present 
Hilo  church,  a  very  pretty  wooden  one,  has  cost  about 
$14,000.  All  these  have  been  erected  mainly  by  native 
money  and  labour." 

Now,  let  me  give  you  a  most  touching  fact  which  was  told 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lyman,  and  published  in  the  interesting 
series  of  letters  of  Miss  Isabella  Bird:  "  In  1825,  five  years 
after  the  first  missionary  had  landed,  Kapiolani,  a  female  of 
high  rank,  while  living  at  Kaiwaalea,  where  Captain  Cook 
was  murdered,  became  a  Christian.  Grieving  for  her  people, 
most  of  whom  still  feared  to  anger  Pele  (the  merciless  god- 
dess of  the  volcano  Kilanea),  .she  announced  that  it  was  her 
intention  to  visit  Kilanea,  and  dare  the  fearful  goddess  to  do 
her  worst.  Her  husband  and  many  others  tried  to  dissuade 
her,  but  she  was  resolute,  and  taking  with  her  a  large  retinue, 
she  made  the  journey  of  one  hundred  miles,  mostly  on  foot, 
over  the  rugged  lava,  till  she  arrived  near  the  crater.  There  a 
priestess  of  Pele  met  her,  threatened  her  with  the  displeasure 
of  the  goddess  if  she  persisted  in  her  hostile  errand,  and  prophe- 
sied that  she  and  her  followers  would  soon  perish  misera- 
bly. Then,  as  now,  ohelo  berries  grew  profusely  around  the 
terminal  wall  of  Kilanea,  and  there,  as  everywhere,  were  con- 
secrated to  Pele;  none  being  allowed  to  eat  any  of  them,  till 
he  had  at  first  offered  some  of  them  to  divinity.  It  was 
usual,  on  arriving  at  the  crater,  to  break  a  branch  covered 
with  the  berries,  and  turning  the  face  to  the  pit  of  fire,  to 
throw  half  the  branch  over  the  precipice,  saying:  "  Pele, 
here  are  your  aheolos;  I  ofiPer  some  to  you,  some  I  also  eat." 
After  this,  only  the  natives  had  permission  to  eat  that  fruit. 


On   My  Way   to  Australia  23S 

Kapiolani  gathered  and  ate  the  berries  without  this  formula, 
after  which  she  and  her  company  of  eighty  persons  des- 
cended to  the  black  edge  of  the  volcano,  called:  '  Hail,  man, 
man! '  There  in  full  view  of  the  fiery  pit,  she  thus  addressed 
her  followers:  'Jehovah  is  my  God.  Rekindled  those  fires. 
I  fear  not  Pele.  If  I  perish  by  the  anger  of  Pele,  then 
you  may  fear  the  anger  of  Pele;  but  if  I  trust  in  Jehovah, 
and  He  should  save  me  from  the  wrath  of  Pele,  when  I 
break  and  despise  her  tabus  (laws),  then  you  must  fear  and 
serve  the  Lord  Jehovah.  All  the  gods  of  Hawaii  are  vain. 
Great  is  Jehovah's  goodness  in  sending  teachers  to  turn  us 
from  these  vanities  to  the  living  God  and  the  way  of  right- 
eousness!' 

"  Then  they  sang  a  hymn  and  you  can  fancy  the  strange 
procession  winding  its  way  backward  over  the  cracked,  hot 
lava  sea,  the  robust  belief  of  the  princess  hardly  sustaining 
the  limping  faith  of  her  followers,  whose  fears  were  not  laid 
to  rest  until  they  reached  the  crater  rim,  without  any  signs  of 
the  pursuit  of  the  avenging  deity." 

Is  not  this  more  sublime  than  Elijah's  appeal  on  the  soft, 
green  slopes  of  Carmel? 

Not  only  have  these  islanders  become  Christians,  but  they 
have  become  the  instruments  of  the  mercies  of  God  towards 
the  heathen  of  the  numberless  Polynesian  islands.  Many  of 
them  have  become  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  have  gone 
through  many  perils  to  preach  Christ  to  the  people  of,  at 
least,  fifty  islands,  with  the  most  admirable  success. 

Though  my  stay  in  Honolulu  was  very  short,  I  consider 
it  a  great  privilege  to  have  been  allowed,  by  the  good  provi- 
dence of  God,  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  several  of  those 
modern  apostles  whose  labours  have  been  so  abundantly 
blessed. 

There  is  a  college  in  Honolulu  where  many  natives  have 
been  trained  to  the  holy  ministry,  and  who  have  become  as 
remarkable  by  their  eloquence  and  talents  as  by  their  sincere 
piety. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

On  My  Way  to  Australia.    Sights  on  the  Pacific 

Everywhere,  and  in  whatever  circumstances  of  life  one  is 
providentially  placed,  he  is  sure  to  find  in  the  Psalms  of 
David  the  most  practical  and  sublime  thoughts  and  advice 
suited  to  his  position.  But  it  is  when  one  "  goes  down  to 
the  sea  "and  does  "business  in  great  waters,"  that  I  invite 
him  to  take  with  him  his  Book  of  Psalms.  He  will  surely 
find  in  them  not  only  a  faithful  adviser,  but  a  most  elegant 
and  interesting  companion  and  friend. 

Before  this  long  voyage  on  the  ocean,  I  had  many  times 
read  with  benefit  and  pleasure  the  inimitable  and  Divine 
songs  of  the  royal  prophet;  but  I  had  never  understood  their 
profound  philosophy  and  their  superhuman  beauties  as 
during  those  few  weeks  on  the  Pacific.  It  is  evident  that 
David  had  extensively  traveled  on  the  sea;  that  he  had  often 
admired  its  wonders,  contemplated  its  grandeurs,  and  felt  its 
dangers.  His  soul  had  surely  been  thrilled  by  the  roaring 
waves,  and  he  had  heard  the  noise  of  their  thundering  bil- 
lows, when  he  wrote:  "The  voice  of  the  Lord  is  upon  the 
waters;  the  God  of  glory  thundereth:  the  Lord  is  upon  many 
waters;  the  Lord  sitteth  upon  the  flood;  yea,  the  Lord  sitteth 
forever." 

Though  our  great  and  merciful  God  is  everywhere,  and  the 
Christian  meets  and  sees  Him  in  all  His  works  on  earth, 
there  is  no  place  like  the  sea  where  He  speaks  to  us  of  His 
infinite  greatness,  majesty,  wisdom,  power  and  mercy.  Oh! 
who  will  ever  be  able  to  tell  the  magnificence  of  the  setting 
or  rising  sun  on  the  vast  ocean?  How  many  poems  have  I 
not  read  on  that  subject?  But  how  far  they  all  are  from  the 
mark!     How  pale  are  their  colours,  when  put  side  by  side 

S36 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  337 

with  the  glorious  rays  of  light  which,  in  torrents,  overwhelm 
everything,  when  the  sun  comes  out  of  its  mysterious  night 
chambers! 

When  alone  on  deck,  almost  every  morning,  at  the  rising 
sun,  I  contemplated  the  glories  and  the  magnij&cence  of 
that  spectacle,  how  many  times  I  have  tried  to  find  ex- 
pressions sufficiently  noble  to  tell  my  friends  the  splendours, 
the  grandeur,  the  ravishing  magnificence  of  that  spectacle. 
But,  then,  how  I  felt  myself  confounded,  utterly  confounded, 
by  my  impotence  of  speaking  worthily  of  what  my  eyes  saw, 
my  heart  and  my  soul  felt,  in  the  presence  of  the  untold  and 
unutterable  beauties  which  the  merciful  hand  of  my  mighty 
God  was  spreading  before  me.  It  was  only  in  the  Psalms 
that  I  could  find  words  in  which  I  wanted  to  tell  my  impres- 
sions, my  admirations  and  my  joys  at  being  allowed  to  see, 
with  my  own  eyes,  such  wonderful  things:  "The  heavens 
declare  the  glory  of  God;  and  the  firmament  showeth  His 
handiwork.  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto 
night  showeth  knowledge.  There  is  no  speech  nor  language 
where  their  voice  is  not  heard.  Their  line  is  gone  out 
through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  to  the  end  of  the  world. 
In  them  hath  He  set  a  tabernacle  for  the  sun,  which  is  as  a 
bridegroom  coming  out  of  his  chamber,  and  rejoiceth  as  a 
giant  to  run  a  race.  His  going  forth  is  from  the  end  of  the 
heaven,  and  his  circuit  unto  the  ends  of  it;  and  there  is 
nothing  hid  from  the  heat  thereof.  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  per- 
fect, converting  the  soul:  the  testimony  of  the  Lord  is  sure, 
making  wise  the  simple.  Let  the  words  of  my  mouth,  and 
the  meditation  of  my  heart,  be  acceptable  in  Thy  sight,  O 
Lord,  my  strength  and  my  redeemer." 

How  many  times  these  so  simple  and  sublime  words  fell  on 
my  soul  as  a  dew  from  heaven  to  gladden  and  raise  it  from 
these  low 'and  earthly  regions  to  the  foot  of  that  throne  of 
glory  and  mercy  on  which  our  great  and  eternal  God  reigns, 
and  from  which  His  mercy,  light  and  life  are  manifested 
everywhere,     "Oh  that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  His 


338  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

poodness,  and  for  His  mercies  to  the  cliildren  of  men!  And 
let  them  sacrifice  the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  and  declare 
His  works  with  rejoicing.  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in 
ships,  that  do  business  in  great  waters;  these  see  the 
works  of  the  Lord  and  His  wonders  in  the  deep."  Does  not 
the  prophet  plainly  say,  here,  that  when  a  man  wants  to  un- 
derstand the  works  of  the  Lord,  it  is  among  the  wonders  of 
the  deep  that  he  must  come  to  study  them?  It  is  true  that 
the  Christian  does  not  take  a  step  on  earth  without  meeting 
witnesses  which  speak  to  him  of  the  power,j wisdom,  love  and 
mercy  of  his  God.  But  on  the  sea,  those  witnesses  take 
larger  proportions.  They  pass  before  ourieyes  as  giants,  by 
their  number  and  their  size.  Their  voices  roar  and  thunder, 
as  becometh  the  embassadors  of  the  great  and  mighty  God, 
whose  throne  is  in  the  heaven  and  whose  hands  have  dug  the 
bottomless  basin  of  the  ocean. 

How  many  times,  before  the  rising  sun  had  yet  come  out 
from  the  deep  on  his  chariot  of  light  and  fire,  did  I  remain 
mute  with  admiration  at  the  sight  of  hundreds  of  whales 
playing  about  our  ship!  How  majestic  the  motion  of  those 
gigantic  citizens  of  the  ocean!  With  what  inconceivable 
agility  they  glide  above  the  waves!  Does  not  the  great  Paci- 
fic Ocean  seem  to  be  proud  to  bear  in  its  bosom  those  mighty 
creatures  of  the  deep?  How  quickly  it  opens  its  doors  to  let 
them  come  out  to  the  surface,  that  they  may  speak  to  us  of 
the  great  God  who  created  them !  And  when  the  first  rays 
of  the  sun  meet  those  mighty  giants,  how  suddenly  they  are 
covered  with  a  mantle  of  silver  and  gold!  How  they  glitter 
with  diadems  of  most  precious  pearls  and  radiant  emeralds! 
Do  they  not  even  change  the  breath  of  their  nostrils  into  as 
many  rainbows,  which  seem  crowns  of  glory  and  honour  put 
on  the  foreheads  of  those  unrivalled  monsters  of  the  deep? 
And  when  they  majestically  raise  their  heads  above  the  roar- 
ing waves  toward  heaven,  crowned  with  those  rainbows,  and 
covered  with  the  brilliant  mantle  of  gold  and  silver,  pearls 
and  rubies,  sapphires  and  emeralds  which  the  rays  of  the  sun 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  339 

have  just  laid  upon  them,  do  they  not  look  like  angels  of  the 
deep,  which  come  to  unite  themselves  to  the  exiled  sons  of 
Adam,  to  adore  and  praise  the  eternal  God,  before  whom  all 
the  creatures,  all  the  worlds,  must  prostrate  themselves  in 
ceaseless  adoration?  I  then  called  the  prophets  of  old  to 
htlp  me  to  express  the  feelings  of  admiration  and  joy  by 
which  I  was  overwhelmed.  Job  was  the  first  to  fill  my  soul 
with  the  music  of  his  Divine  poetry. 

"Canst  thou  draw  out  Leviathan  with  an  hook,  or  his 
tongue  with  a  cord  which  thou  lettest  down?  Canst  thou  put 
an  hook  into  his  nose,  or  bore  his  jaw  through  with  a  thorn? 
Will  he  make  many  supplications  unto  thee?  Will  he  make  a 
covenant  with  thee?  Wilt  thou  take  him  for  a  servant  for- 
ever? Who  can  open  the  face  of  his  garment,  or  who  can 
come  to  him  with  his  double  bridle?  His  scales  are  his  pride, 
shut  up  together  as  a  close  seal.  By  his  neesings  a  light 
doth  shine,  and  his  eyes  are  like  the  eyelids  of  the  morning. 
Out  of  his  mouth  go  burning  lamps,  and  sparks  of  fire  leap 
out.  Out  of  his  nostrils  goeth  smoke,  as  out  of  a  seething 
pot  or  caldron.  His  breath  kindleth  coals,  and  a  flame  goeth 
out  of  his  mouth.  In  his  neck  remaineth  strength,  and  sor- 
row is  turned  into  joy  before  him.  His  heart  is  as  firm  as  a 
stone.  When  he  raiseth  up  himself,  the  mighty  are  afraid. 
The  sword  of  him  that  layeth  at  him  cannot  hold.  He 
esteemeth  iron  as  straw,  and  brass  as  rotten  wood!  The  ar- 
row cannot  make  him  flee;  sling-stones  are  turned  with  him 
into  stubble.  He  maketh  the  deep  to  boil  like  a  pot.  He 
maketh  a  path  to  shine  after  him;  one  would  think  the  deep 
to  be  hoary.  Wilt  thou  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird, 
or  wilt  thou  bind  him  for  thy  maidens?  Shall  the  com- 
panions make  a  banquet  of  him,  shall  they  part  him 
among  the  merchants?  Canst  thou  fill  his  skin  with  barbed 
irons,  or  his  head  with  fish  spears?  Lay  thine  hand  upon 
him,  remember  the  battle,  do  no  more.  Behold,  the 
hope  of  him  is  in  vain:  shall  not  one  be  cast  down  even  at  the 
sight  of  him?    None  is  so  fierce  that  dare  stir  him  up;  who 


340  Forty   Years   in   the  Church  of  Christ 

then  is  able  to  stand  before  me?  Upon  earth  there  is  not 
like  him  who  is  made  without  fear.  He  beholdeth  all  high 
things;  he  is  a  king  above  all  the  children  of  pride." 

With  what  power  and  solemnity  the  voice  of  Job,  passing 
through  forty  centuries,  came  to  me  on  this  deck  to  say  that 
those  leviathans  of  the  deep  were  sent  there  to  me  as  the  am- 
bassadors of  my  God,  to  make  my  ears  ring  with  the  solemn 
questions  which  constantly  till  the  echoes  of  heaven  and  earth, 
"  Who  is  able  to  stand  before  me?  "  Oh!  blessed  is  the  man 
who  does  not  shut  his  ears  to  those  words  which  God  ad- 
dressed us  from  the  south  and  the  north,  from  the  west  and 
the  east,  which  on  the  ocean  come  from  the  flash  of  light- 
ning, the  clap  of  thunder,  the  howling  of  the  waves,  the  moan- 
ing of  the  hurricane,  the  blowing  of  the  whales!  "Who  is 
able  to  stand  before  Me?  "  But  believe  me,  when  those  voices 
of  the  prophet  come  to  us,  rolling  on  the  big  waves  of  the  bound- 
less ocean,  they  have  a  power  which  no  human  words  can  ex- 
press. And  when  all  the  chords  of  my  soul  were  still  vibrating 
under  the  voice  of  Job,  how  can  I  tell  you  what  I  felt,  when, 
alone,  in  a  retired  corner  of  the  deck  of  our  noble  ship,  having 
the  infinite  heaven  above  my  head,  the  infinite  ocean  be- 
fore my  eyes,  at  my  right  hand  and  my  left,  the  infinite  be- 
fore and  behind  me,  I  listened  to  the  celestial  poetry  of 
David:  "Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul.  O  Lord,  my  God, 
Thou  art  great;  Thou  art  clothed  with  honour  and  majesty. 
Who  covereth  Thyself  with  light  as  with  a  garment;  who 
stretchest  out  the  heavens  like  a  curtain.  Who  layetli  the 
beams  of  His  chambers  in  the  waters;  who  maketh  the  clouds 
His  chariots;  who  walketh  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind.  Who 
maketh  His  angels  spirits;  His  ministers  a  flaming  fire. 
Who  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth,  that  it  should  not  be 
removed  forever.  Thou  coverest  it  with  the  deep  as  with  a 
garment;  the  waters  stood  above  the  mountain.  At  Thy  re- 
buke they  fled;  at  the  voice  of  Thy  thunder  they  hasted 
away.  They  go  up  by  the  mountains;  they  go  down  by  the 
valleys  into  the  plains  Thou  hast  formed  for  them.     Thou 


On   My  Way   to  Australia  341 

hast  set  a  bound  that  they  may  not  pass  over,  that  they  turn 
not  again  to  cover  the  earth.  The  young  lions  roar  over  their 
prey,  and  seek  their  meat  from  God,  The  sun  ariseth,  they 
gather  themselves  together,  and  lay  them  down  in  their  dens. 
Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work  and  to  his  labour  until  the 
evening.  O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  Thy  works.  In  wisdom 
hast  Thou  made  them  all.  The  earth  is  full  of  Thy  riches. 
So  is  this  great  and  wide  sea,  wherein  are  things  creeping 
innumerable,  both  great  and  small  beasts.  These  wait  all 
ui3on  Thee,  that  Thou  gavest  them  they  gather:  Thou  open- 
est  Thy  hand;  they  are  filled  with  good.  Thou  hidest  Thy 
face,  they  are  troubled.  Thou  takest  away  their  breath,  they 
die,  and  they  return  to  their  dust.  Thou  sendest  Thy  Spirit, 
they  are  created;  and  Thou  renewest  the  face  of  the  earth. 
The  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  endure  forever:  the  Lord  shall 
rejoice  in  His  works.  He  looketh  on  the  earth  and  it  trem- 
bleth.  He  toucheth  the  hills  and  they  smoke.  I  will  sing 
unto  the  Lord  as  long  as  I  live,  I  will  sing  praise  to  my  God 
while  I  have  my  being.  My  meditation  of  Him  shall  be 
sweet;  I  will  be  glad  in  the  Lord.  Bless  thou  the  Lord,  O 
my  soul.  Praise  ye  the  Lord."  I  would  have  to  write  a 
whole  volume  on  my  impressions  and  feelings  at  the  marvel- 
ous things  which  the  hand  of  the  Lord  has  scattered  every- 
where on  the  broad  ocean,  that  the  traveler  may  not  forget 
Him,  and  that  he  may  praise  Him  day  and  night.  But  it  is 
when  we  study  those  marvels  with  the  lights  of  the  Divine 
songs  of  David  in  our  hands  that  they  appear  to  us  in  all 
their  grandeur  and  ravishing  beauties.  Who,  when  crossing 
the  ocean,  in  the  darkest  hours  of  the  night,  has  not  remained 
mute  with  admiration  at  the  marvelous  bright  and  innumera- 
ble sparkles  of  light  which  follow  the  track  of  the  ship 
around  her  sides,  and  crown  her  bow  as  with  a  garland  and  a 
crown  of  stars?  We  are  told  by  the  learned  and  scientific 
men  of  this  day  that  these  lights  are  nothing  else  but  myr- 
iads of  small  animals  covered  with  a  robe  of  phosphorus.  But 
are  not  all  these  infinitely  small  beings,  whose  robe  is   fire 


342  Forty    Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

and  light,  as  many  witnesses  who  cried  to  me  not  to  forget 
that  my  God  also  is  light  and  life;  that  it  is  only  through 
Him  and  in  Him  that  I  can  breathe,  move,  and  live.  Those 
animals  are  so  small  that  the  eye  of  man  cannot  see  them. 
But,  though  infinitely  small,  do  they  not  spread,  all  around, 
such  a  beautiful  light  that  the  darkest  night  is  changed  into 
the  brightest  day.  Why  should  not  every  Christian  try  to 
shed  light  all  around  him  as  these  admiraljle  animalcule. 
Are  not  these  marvelous  beings  there  to  repeat  to  us  the  sol- 
emn words  of  the  Son  of  God:  "Let  your  light  so  shine  be- 
fore men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works,  and  glorify 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world,  etc."  ?  But  if  from  these  marvelous  little  beings, 
which  God  has  evidently  j)ut  there  on  every  inch  of  that 
great  ocean  that  we  may  got  forget  Him,  we  turn  our  eyes 
towards  the  innumerable  islands  with  which  the  Pacific 
Ocean  is  studded,  how  can  we  express  our  sentiments  of  awe, 
when  we  see  that  many  of  those  islands,  at  a  period  more  or 
less  remote,  were  submarine  volcanoes  which  vomited  tor- 
rents of  lava  and  threw  toward  the  sky,  day  and  night,  whole 
mountains  of  molten  iron,  stones,  sulphur,  etc.  The  fact  is 
that  this  Pacific  Ocean  was  once  nothing  but  a  seething 
caldron,  or  rather,  steaming  furnace,  where  all  the  ele- 
ments which  compose  the  earth  were  mixed,  boiled,  burnt, 
and  melted  together  with  a  fire  whose  power  cannot  be  ex- 
pressed with  human  words.  Yes;  from  this  very  ocean  flames 
have  come  out  whose  blasts  were  irresistible;  fires  burnt  and 
raged  in  an  inconceivable  manner,  clouds  of  darkening  smoke 
covered  the  whole  world,  earthquakes  shook  the  earth  to  its 
foundations.  Whole  continents  were  created,  innumerable 
islands  were  formed  by  the  burning  stones,  melted  iron,  lead, 
gold,  silver,  lava,  which  were  vomited  from  the  craters  of  the 
numerous  volcanoes  whose  proud  heads  seem  again  to  threaten 
the  world.  Not  only  many  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  are 
evidently  of  volcanic  formation,  but  we  know  that  several 
islands    have   entirely    disappeared   with   their    unfortunate 


On    My    Way   to  Australia  343 

inhabitants.  Some  years  ago,  two  or  more  well-known 
islands,  between  New  Zealand  and  Tahiti,  suddenly  sank  down 
with  the  thousands  of  men,  women  and  children  who  inhab- 
ited them.  No  vestige,  except  the  top  of  a  few  naked  rocks, 
have  remained  to  indicate  where  those  volcanic  islands  were 
situated.  When  the  traveler  sees,  as  I  do,  now,  from  the  deck 
of  this  ship,  those  marvels  with  his  own  eyes;  when  he  knows 
he  is  just  crossing  those  fiery  regions,  his  ears  are  ringing 
with  the  prophetic  words  of  Peter,  "  Whereby  the  world  that 
then  was,  being  overflowed  by  water,  perished:  but  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  which  are  now,  by  the  same  word,  are 
kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment 
and  perdition  of  ungodly  men.  But  the  day  of  the  Lord 
will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night;  in  the  which  the  heavens 
shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall 
melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works  that 
are  therein  shall  be  burned  up." 

The  appearance  of  the  greatest  part  of  those  volcanic  is- 
lands is  really  formidable,  with  their  black  peaks  shooting 
up  over  the  dark  clouds,  with  their  large  craters  still  red- 
dened with  the  torrents  of  burning  lava,  which  not  only 
filled  the  basins  of  the  ocean  at  a  depth  of  3,000  or  4,000  feet, 
but  raised  mountains  of  more  than  14,000  feet  in  height  over 
the  seething  waters.  Sometimes  our  ship  had  to  pass  very 
near  those  huge  remains  of  days  of  inexpressible  horror. 
The  roaring  waves  were  beating  them  as  if  they  wanted  to 
roll  them  down  into  the  deep;  but  it  was  in  vain.  Those 
rocks  of  melted  granite,  iron  and  sulphur  dared  with  an 
apparent  contempt  the  rage  of  the  winds  and  the  waves. 
They  looked  like  witnesses  posted  there  by  the  hand  of  our 
Almighty  God  to  make  the  traveler  remember  His  infinite 
power.  The  deafening  voice  of  the  roaring  ocean,  breaking 
on  the  immovable  base  of  those  desolated  rocks,  was  repeat- 
ing to  my  soul  the  words  of  the  royal  prophet:  "Then  the 
earth  shook  and  trembled,  the  foundations  moved  and  were 
shaken,  because  my  God  was  wroth.     There  went  up  a  smoke 


344  Forty  Years   In  the   Church   of  Christ 

out  of  His  nostrils,  and  fire  out  of  His  mouth;  fires  were 
kindled  by  it.  He  bowed  also  the  heavens  and  came  down,  and 
darkness  was  under  His  feet.  And  He  rode  upon  a  cherub, 
and  did  fly;  yea,  He  did  fly  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind. 
He  made  darkness  His  secret  places;  His  pavilion  round 
about  Him  were  dark  waters  and  thick  clouds  of  the  skies. 
The  Lord  also  thundered  in  the  heavens,  and  the  Highest 
gave  His  voice;  hailstones  and  coals  of  fire;  yea,  He  sent  out 
His  arrows  and  scattered  them;  He  shot  lightning  and  dis- 
comfited them.  Then  the  channels  of  water  were  seen,  and 
the  foundations  of  the  worlds  were  discovered,  at  Thy  rebuke, 

0  Lord,  at  the  blast  of  the  breath  of  Thy  nostrils.  He  sent 
from  above,  He  took  me;  He  drew  me  out  of  many  waters." 

1  had  been  told  that  the  many  days  passed  on  the  ocean 
would  be  tedious  and  lonesome  ones;  but  this  was  a  mistake. 
There  is  not  a  day,  I  dare  say,  nor  an  hour,  when  our  merci- 
ful God  does  not  present  new  wonders  to  admire  His  power, 
bless  His  mercy  and  adore  His  majesty.  What  can  be  more 
singular  and  interesting,  for  example,  than  those  thousands 
of  porpoises  which  so  often  come  alongside  the  ship,  as  to 
run  a  race  with  her!  That  fish,  which  is  much  larger  than  a 
kingfish,  seems  to  be  proud  of  its  elegant  form,  its  bright 
and  rich  robe,  and  its  incredible  agility.  He  comes  as  near 
as  possible  to  the  ship,  that  we  may  see  and  admire  him. 
Though  we  were  often  going  at  the  rate  of  twelve  knots  an 
hour,  those  fishes  were  swimming  much  faster.  With  what 
sentiments  of  admiration  we  were  following  their  swift  and 
elegant  motions,  particularly  when,  reaching  the  top  of  the 
foaming  billows,  they  leaped  out  of  their  liquid  element,  to 
plunge  five  or  six  yards  below  into  the  bottom  dug  by  the 
receding  waves  before  them!  Who  gave  to  this  singular  fish 
the  instinct  of  coming  alongside  the  ships  which  cross  this 
boundless  ocean,  and  so  often  refresh  us  poor  prisoners  of  the 
deep  with  one  of  the  most  amusing  and  wonderful  spectacles 
which  can  be  seen?  Is  it  not  the  mighty  and  merciful  hand 
of  God  which  has  given  them  those  singular  habits,  with  the 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  345 

evident  view  of  breaking  the  monotony  of  the  long  hours 
spent  in  crossing  those  boundless  oceans?  Had  we  not,  then, 
good  reasons  to  say  with  David:  "  Your  hearts  shall  live  that 
seek  God;  for  the  Lord  lieareth  the  afflicted,  and  despiseth 
not  His  prisoners.  Let  the  heavens  and  earth  praise  Him,  let 
the  seas  and  everything  that  moveth  therein.  He  shall  have 
dominion  from  sea  to  sea.  Thy  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  Thy 
path  in  the  great  waters,  and  Thy  footsteps  are  not  known. 
For  God  is  my  King  of  old,  working  salvation  in  the  midst  of 
the  earth.  Thou  didst  divide  the  sea  by  Thy  strength;  Thou 
breakest  the  heads  of  the  leviathan  in  pieces,  and  gavest 
him  to  be  meat  to  the  people  inhabiting  the  wilderness.  If 
I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  sea,  even  there  shall  Thy  hand  lead  me,  and  Thy 
right  hand  shall  hold  me.  Praise  the  Lord  from  the  earth,  ye 
dragons  from  all  deeps.  O  Lord,  our  Lord,  how  excellent  is 
Thy  name  in  all  the  earth,  who  hast  set  Thy  glory  above  the 
heavens!  When  I  consider  Thy  heavens,  the  works  of  Thy 
fingers,  the  moon  and  stars  which  Thou  hast  ordained,  what 
is  man,  that  Thou  art  mindful  of  him,  and  the  son  of  man 
that  Thou  visitest  him?  For  Thou  hast  made  him  a  little 
lower  than  Thy  angels,  and  hast  crowned  him  with  glory  and 
honour.  Thou  madest  him  to  have  dominion  over  the  works 
of  Thy  hands;  Thou  hast  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  The 
fowls  of  the  air,  and  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  whatsoever 
passeth  through  the  paths  of  the  sea." 


CJiAPTER  XXXII 

On  My  "Way  to  Australia     The  Dangers  of  the  Deep 

By  the  great  mercy  of  God,  we  entered  the  port  of  Sydney, 
one  of  the  finest  seaports  in  the  whole  world. 

Our  voyage  had  been  one  of  the  shortest  on  record,  and  it 
would  have  been  one  of  the  most  pleasant  ever  made  if,  when 
three  hundred  miles  from  the  shore,  we  had  not  been  assailed 
by  a  hurricane,  which  very  nearly  sent  us  to  wait  the  great 
Judgment  day  in  a  watery  grave. 

Till  then,  we  had  always  had  fine  weather  and  fair  winds. 
Even  when  crossing  the  tropics,  and  when  over  the  equator, 
we  had  not  met  anything  but  the  most  pleasant  weather  and 
fair  winds.  We  had  not  even  had  a  single  day  of  that  ex- 
treme heat  which  is  so  dreaded  by  the  traveler. 

A  strong,  fresh  breeze  from  the  east  had  constantly  blown 
over  us,  filled  our  sails,  and  given  us  a  spring  atmosphere. 
But  when  we  reached  the  south  latitude,  between  the  34th 
and  85th  degrees,  the  skies  began  to  be  covered  with  dark 
and  threatening  clouds.  Lightnings  such  as  I  had  never 
seen,  and  claps  of  thunder  such  as  I  had  never  heard,  accom- 
panied with  such  torrents  of  rain  as  fall  only  in  these  parts 
of  the  globe,  told  us  that  our  bright  and  sunny  days  were  at 
an  end,  and  that  we  had  to  prepare  ourselves  for  a  change  of 
scenery,  thoughts  and  aspirations.  It  was  evident  that  we 
were  just  encountering  the  equinox  gale  so  much  feared  even 
by  the  most  expert  and  tried  mariners. 

On  the  28th,  at  about  3  p.  m.,  our  noble  ship  began  to 
groan  under  the  blows  of  the  furious  waves,  in  a  way  that 
would  strike  with  terror  the  bravest  hearts.  She  began  to  go 
up  to  the  top  of  the  waves,  and  to  plunge  into  the  profound 

316 


On   My  Way  to  Australia  347 

abyss  dug  before  her  by  the  receding  seas,  in  the  most  fear- 
ful manner. 

It  soon  became  absolutely  impossible  for  anyone  to 
stand  on  his  feet  without  being  hurled,  with  the  most  tre- 
mendous violence,  if  he  were  not  well  tied  with  a  rope,  or  if 
he  had  not  his  hands  grasping  some  well^fastened  object. 

Though,  in  my  two  voyages  to  Europe,  I  had  seen  pretty 
big  waves,  nothing  could  be  compared  with  the  mountainous, 
tumbling  billows  which  rolled  over  us  with  such  terrific 
noise  and  such  irresistible  power  on  this  neversto=be=forgotten 
day.  But  the  more  furiously  the  hurricane  roars  above  and 
around,  the  more  sublime  is  the  grand  spectacle  before  our 
eyes.  Every  aperture  and  door  on  the  windward  were,  at 
first,  firmly  shut  to  prevent  the  waves  from  entering  and 
filling  the  ship.  Only  one  door,  on  the  leeward,  remained 
open  for  some  time,  at  my  earnest  request,  that  I  might  see 
and  admire  to  my  full  heart's  content,  the  unspeakable  gran- 
deur and  terrible  beauties  of  the  most  fearful  storm  I  had 
ever  seen. 

During  the  last  fierce  conflict  which  took  place  in  our 
Canada  Presbyterian  Church  about  instrumental  music,  one 
of  the  opponents  said  that  God  Almighty  had  evidently 
formed  the  human  throat  as  the  only  instrument  of  music  to 
proclaim  His  majesty.  His  power  and  His  mercies.  No  doubt 
that  good  brother  would  have  changed  his  mind  had  he  been 
near  me,  there,  on  that  steamer.  For,  every  part  of  the  noble 
ship  had  a  voice;  every  rope  and  string  had  a  voice;  every 
wave  had  a  voice;  every  clap  of  thunder  had  a  voice  to  speak 
to  us  of  the  power  and  majesty  of  God  as  no  human  throat 
ever  spoke.  Yes;  when  the  united  sounds  of  the  roaring  hur- 
ricane, the  thundering  waves,  the  moaning  billows,  the  whis- 
tling ropes,  the  cracking  ribs  of  the  ship,  the  breaking  of  the 
chairs  and  tables  of  the  dining  saloon,  hurled  on  every  side, 
mixed  with  the  constant  claps  of  thunder,  struck  the  chords 
of  our  soul,  the  irresistible  and  infinite  power  of  God  was  re- 
vealed to  us  as  it  could  not  be  revealed  by  any  man's  throat. 


348  Forty   Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

In  fact,  were  not,  then,  the  very  angels  of  God  striking  the 
strings  of  convulsed  nature  to  sing  with  David:  '  W-ho  is  so 
great  a  God  as  our  God?  Thou  art  the  God  that  doeth  won- 
ders; Thou  hast  declared  Thy  strength  among  the  people. 
The  waters  saw  Thee,  O  God,  the  waters  saw  Thee;  they 
were  afraid:  the  depths  also  were  troubled.  The  clouds 
poured  waters,  the  skies  sent  out  a  sound;  Thine  arrows  also 
went  abroad.  The  voice  of  Thy  thunder  was  in  the  heavens; 
the  lightnings  lightened  the  world;  the  earth  trembled  and 
shook.  Thy  way  is  on  the  sea,  and  Thy  path  on  the  great 
waters;  and  Thy  footsteps  are  not  known." 

I  never  felt  as  then  how  we  are  disposed  to  form  different 
judgments  about  the  same  thing  according  to  the  different 
emotions  or  passions  of  the  moment.  That  noble  steamer 
which  had  appeared  so  large  with  her  384  feet  length,  and  so 
strong  with  the  iron  and  steel  material  with  which  she  is  en- 
tirely built — that  steamer,  which  looked  so  like  a  giant  of  the 
seas  when  we  went  aboard  of  her  in  the  calm  basin  of  San 
Francisco,  looked  as  a  powerless  bundle  of  straw  when  tossed 
about  and  attacked  from  every  side  by  the  furious  waves  of 
the  raging  Pacific  Ocean. 

It  soon  became  evident  to  the  most  as  well  as  to  the  least 
expert  that  we  were  in  imminent  danger  of  perishing.  At 
any  moment  we  expected  that  some  part  of  the  engine  would 
give  way,  or  that  the  axle  of  the  screw  would  break,  or  that 
the  fires  would  be  put  out  by  the  torrents  of  water  which 
every  wave  was  throwing  into  the  doomed  ship.  At  about 
4  P.  M.  one  of  those  waves  had  struck  me  in  the  breast  and 
hurled  and  rolled  me  more  than  thirty  feet  from  the  leeward 
towards  the  windward  side,  without  more  ceremony  than  if  I 
had  been  a  straw.  After  this  I  crawled  to  my  room  to 
change  my  clothing,  but  it  was  to  find  it  flooded  with  water, 
and  to  see  my  floating  trunks  tossed  about  me  as  if  they 
were  in  the  midst  of  a  deep  and  rapid  river. 

Unable  to  continue  our  course  without  an  evident  danger 
of  foundering,  the  captain  ordered  the  course  of   the  ship 


On  My  Way  to   Australia  349 

changed,  and  put  her  bow  instead  of  her  side  to  the  hurri- 
cane. In  that  position,  the  mountains  cf  water,  hurled  upon 
us  with  such  tremendous  power,  might  roK  over  the  ship 
without  upsetting  her  entirely.  We  had  the  hope  that,  at 
the  setting  sun,  the  hurricane  might  subside  a  little,  as  is 
sometimes  the  case;  but  we  were  to  be  disappointed.  The 
terrible  storm,  instead  of  subsiding,  increased  its  fury  at  the 
approach  of  the  night,  and  the  foaming  mountains  of  the 
furious  ocean  struck  more  and  more  mercilessly  the  bow, 
and  often  even  the  sides  of  the  ship.  The  frightful  flashes 
of  lightning  seemed  more  and  more  to  wrap  us  as  in  a  sheet 
of  fire;  the  continuous  peals  of  thunder,  with  the  rolling  bil- 
lows beating  constantly  against  us,  as  bomb  shells,  caused  our 
model  steamer  to  reel,  tremble  and  shake  at  every  shock,  as 
if  the  angel  of  death  had  struck  her  with  the  avenging  sword. 
To  add  to  the  terrors  of  our  situation,  at  the  setting  sun  we 
saw  that  the  captain  had  ordered  the  crew  to  have  the  life 
boats  ready  at  a  moment's  notice  to  be  launched  to  the  sea, 
as  the  last  resource  when  the  steamer  would  sink.  I 
hope  that  not  a  single  one  of  our  friends  who  will  read  these 
lines  will  ever  personally  experience  the  horrors  of  that  hour, 
when  the  terrible  night  spread  her  mantle  over  us  all.  Oh! 
what  sublime  pages  I  would  write,  if  I  could  describe, 
in  their  plain  grandeur  and  solemnity,  the  episodes  of  the 
six  hours  which  passed  over  us  from  the  beginning  of  the 
night  till  three  o'clock  next  morning,  when  we  heard  the 
Good  Master's  voice  telling  us,  "  Fear  not,  I  am  with  you." 
Human  language  is  inadequate  and  powerless  to  tell  of  those 
terrible,  but  at  the  same  time  superhumanly  grand  and  sub- 
lime things.  In  those  solemn  hours,  how  the  silent  prayers 
which  escape  from  the  recesses  of  the  heart  and  the  soul  are 
fervent,  humble,  pressing!  How  the  merciful  Saviour's 
voice  comes  as  celestial  music  to  the  redeemed  sinner's  soul: 
"  I  go  to  My  Father  to  prepare  you  a  place.  When  it  is 
ready,  I  will  come  and  take  you  with  me,  and  where  I  am 
there  shall  you  be  also." 


350  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

From  the  very  first  day  of  the  voyage,  I  had  made  it  one  of 
my  most  important  duties  to  find  out  among  the  multitude  of 
travelers  those  whom  the  Saviour  of  the  world  had  selected 
for  His  own,  and,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  I  had  found 
them.  They  were  not  very  numerous,  but  how  sublime  and 
simple,  "how  ardent  and  sincere  was  their  faith  and  their 
love  for  the  Lamb  who  had  been  slain  for  them,  and  in  the 
blood  of  whom  they  had  washed  their  robes!  How  many 
times  they  had  drawn  my  tears  of  joy,  when,  gathered  to- 
gether every  day,  at  3  p.  M.,  they  had  raised  their  supplica- 
ting hands  to  the  throne  of  mercy!  As  soon  as  the  danger 
had  become  imminent,  the  greater  part  of  the  fervent  Chris- 
tians gathered  with  me  in  a  corner  of  the  si^lendid  upper 
saloon,  and,  shall  I  tell  it?  Yes.  When  I  found  myself  in 
the  midst  of  those  praying  brethren  and  sisters,  almost  every 
idea  of  danger  went  out  from  my  mind.  But  at  about  two 
o'clock,  after  midnight,  the  hurricane  seemed  again  to  increase 
its  fury;  the  claps  of  thunder  became  more  terrible,  and  the 
raging  billows  seemed  to  make  a  supreme  effort  to  dash  into 
pieces  the  iron  sides  of  our  vessel  then  half  filled  with 
water.  A  wave  now  struck  with  such  tremendous  force  that 
it  seemed  to  me,  and  to  everyone,  that  the  steamer  was 
broken  into  two  pieces.  The  small  window  before  me  having 
been  smashed,  allowed  me  to  see  the  most  terrible  and 
magnificent  spectacle  which  can  be  given  to  man  to  contem- 
plate. Literally  the  sea  did  not  look  any  longer  like  a  sheet 
of  water,  but  an  ocean  of  fire.  Every  wave,  every  billow 
looked  like  the  pines  of  the  forest  when  the  devouring  element 
is  burning  their  noble  heads  during  the  night.  Before  those 
fires  the  darkness  of  night  had  almost  entirely  disappeared. 
The  heavens  above  seemed  also  to  be  an  ocean  of  fire,  by  the 
constant  flashes  of  lightning.  The  phosphorous  lights  of 
the  sea,  brought  to  the  surface  and  beaten  by  the  hurricane, 
seemed  to  have  transformed  the  Pacific  Ocean  into  a  seething 
caldron  of  burning  elements,  on  which  our  half-wrecked 
ship  was  hopelessly  struggling  for  life. 


On   My   Way  to  Australia  351 

After  I  had  had  a  glimpse  of  that  marvelous  and  awful 
vision,  I  turned  towards  those  of  my  praying  friends  who 
were  nearer  to  me,  and  I  said:  "  It  is  a  miracle  that  we  are 
not  already  perished;  our  merciful  God  wants  to  try  our  faith; 
but  He  wants  also  to  save  us.  Oh!  let  us  go  to  Him  and 
pray  as  the  apostles  went  to  Him  and  prayed,  when  they 
awoke  Christ  at  the  very  moment  they  were  perishing." 

And  I  heard,  then,  prayers  such  as  I  had  never  heard.  For 
a  whole  hour  cries  of  faith  and  love,  cries  of  hope  and  joy, 
went  from  this  little  band  of  children  of  Grod  to  the  Mercy 
Seat,  such  as  the  spirit  of  life  and  light  alone  can  give.  Yes; 
there  was  a  struggle  that  night,  on  that  little  corner  of  the  rag- 
ing Pacific  Ocean,  in  which  love  and  mercy  were  again  to 
win  the  day  against  the  justice  and  wrath  of  God. 

A  few  minutes  after  three,  a  young  and  very  dear  sister, 
the  widow  of  an  English  ofiicer,  said  to  me:  "Do  you  not 
feel  that  the  storm  is  not  so  strong,  and  the  ship  is  not  so 
terribly  tossed  about  as  one  hour  ago?"  "Evidently,"  I 
answered,  "  the  Lord  has  heard  the  voice  and  the  humble 
supplications  of  His  poor,  perishing  servants.  Let  us  bless 
Him." 

And,  falling  on  our  knees,  we  together  sent  from  our  hearts 
and  lips  to  the  throne  of  mercy  the  sublime  hymn  of  David. 
"  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  His  benefits; 
who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities,  who  healeth  all  thy 
diseases;  who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction;  who 
crowneth  thee  with  loving  kindness  and  tender  mercies;  who 
satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things,  so  that  thy  youth  is  re- 
newed like  the  eagle's.  The  Lord  executeth  righteousness 
and  judgment  for  all  that  are  oppressed.  The  Lord  is  merci- 
ful and  gracious,  slow  to  anger  and  plenteous  in  mercy;  Who 
will  not  always  chide,  neither  will  He  keep  His  anger  forever 
He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins,  nor  rewarded  us 
according  to  our  iniquities.  For  as  the  heaven  is  high  above 
the  earth,  so  great  is  His  mercy  to  them  that  fear  Him.  As 
far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  has  He  removed  our 


352  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

transgressions  from  us.  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children, 
so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  Him.  For  He  knoweth 
our  frame;  He  remembereth  that  we  are  dust.  As  for  man, 
his  days  are  as  grass;  as  a  flower  of  the  field,  so  he  flourisheth. 
For  the  wind  passeth  over  it,  and  it  is  gone;  and  the  place 
thereof  shall  know  it  no  more.  But  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  is 
from  everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  Him,  and 
His  righteousness  unto  children's  children,  to  such  as  keep 
His  covenant,  and  to  those  that  remember  His  command- 
ments to  do  them.  The  Lord  hath  prepared  His  throne  in 
the  heavens,  and  His  kingdom  ruleth  over  all.  Bless  the 
Lord,  ye  His  angels  that  excel  in  strength,  that  do  His  com- 
mandments, hearkening  to  the  voice  of  His  word.  Bless  ye 
the  Lord  all  ye  His  hosts,  ye  ministers  that  do  His  pleasure. 
Bless  the  Lord,  all  His  works,  in  all  places  of  His  dominion! 
Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul!  " 

It  was  then  nearly  four  in  the  morning.  The  threatening 
voice  of  the  thunder  was  silenced,  and  the  hurricane  had 
visibly  lost  more  than  half  its  strength.  We  were  all  chilly 
and  exhausted.     We  left  each  other,  to  take  some  rest. 

At  seven,  I  was  awakened  by  the  warming  rays  of  the  bright 
sun  shining  upon  me  through  the  broken  window  of  my  room. 
I  was  soon  on  the  deck  to  gaze  again  on  that  treacherous 
Pacific  Ocean,  which  seemed  so  well  disposed  a  few  hours 
before  to  bring  me  below  its  bitter  and  angry  waves.  Though 
the  roaring  billows  were  still  very  high,  it  was  evident  that 
the  One  who  commands  the  storms,  and  they  are  still,  had 
passed  by  us,  and  heard  our  humble  but  ardent  suppli- 
cations. 

I  joined  my  voice  with  the  voice  of  all  His  creatures,  the 
wind  and  the  sea,  the  sun  and  the  light,  the  earth  and  heavens, 
to  praise  and  bless  Him;  and  I  went  to  the  captain  to  know 
if  our  noble  ship  had  sustained  any  serious  damage.  '*  Not 
much,"  he  said,  "she  has  admirably  fought  the  terrible 
battle.  But  so  sudden  a  cessation  of  that  hurricane  is  one  of 
the  most  extraordinary  things  I  have  seen  in  my  life.     Those 


On   My  Way   to  Australia  353 

equinoctial  storms  generally  last  three  days,  and  they  very 
often  keep  us  a  whole  week  suspended  by  a  thread  between 
life  and  death."  "Ah,"  I  answered,  "you  were  not  aware 
that  you  had  on  board  some  of  the  children  of  those  fisher- 
men who  caused  Christ  to  stop  the  storm  on  the  Sea  of 
Galilee?"  "I  wish,"  he  answered  with  a  smile,  "that  I 
would  have  always  on  board  some  of  those  Galileean  fisher- 
men's children." 

With  the  fair  wind  and  big  waves  to  push  us  towards  the 
long  wished  for  shores  of  Sydney,  we  arrived  in  the  even 
ing  about  eight  o'clock. 

As  soon  as  the  anchor  was  let  down,  as  the  sanitary  laws 
of  the  country  prevented  us  from  landing  immediately,  I  went 
among  the  passengers  to  request  them  to  come  and  pass 
that  last  Sabbath  evening  in  hearing  what  our  friend  David 
had  to  tell  us  about  the  storm  of  the  previous  night,  and  they 
gladly  gathered  to  listen  to  the  sublime  words  of  the  royal 
prophet,  which  I  read  and  commented  upon:  "Oh!  that 
men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness  and  His  wonder- 
ful works  to  the  children  of  men;  And  let  them  sacrifice  the 
sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  and  declare  His  works  with  re- 
joicings. They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  that  do 
business  in  great  waters.  These  see  the  works  of  the  Lord, 
and  His  wonders  in  the  deep.  For  He  commandeth  the  stormy 
wind,  which  lifteth  the  waves  thereof.  They  mount  to  the 
heaven,  they  go  down  again  to  the  depths,  their  soul  is  melted, 
because  of  troubles.  They  reel  to  and  fro,  and  stagger  like  a 
drunken  man,  and  are  at  their  wits'  end.  Then  they  cry  unto 
the  Lord  in  their  troubles,  and  He  bringeth  them  out  of  their 
distresses.  He  maketh  the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves 
thereof  are  still.  Then  are  they  glad  because  they  be  quiet, 
so  He  bringeth  them  unto  the  desired  haven.  Oh  that  men 
would  praise  the  Lord  for  His  goodness,  and  for  His  wonder- 
ful works  to  the  children  of  men!  Let  them  exalt  Him  also 
in  the  congregation  of  the  people,  and  praise  Him  in  the 
assembly  of  the  elders." 


354  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

Nol  I  have  never  seen  anything  like  the  profound  and 
deep  impression  of  those  words  of  the  Divine  Book  when 
they  fell  on  my  companions,  who  had,  with  me,  just  come  out 
from  that  watery  grave  dug  under  our  feet  by  that  terrible 
hurricane.  Both  Jews  and  Christians,  Romanists  and  Prot- 
estants, atheists  and  infidels,  as  well  as  fervent  disciples  of 
the  Gospel,  vied  with  each  other  in  praising  and  thanking 
God  with  cheerful  heart,  singing  the  most  beautiful  hymns 
of  the  Moody  and  Sankey  collection. 

This  last  Sabbath  service  which  we  had  on  board  was  one 
of  the  most  solemn  and  most  touching  episodes  of  my  life, 
and  I  am  sure  that  it  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who 
took  part  in  it.  We  had  begun  at  eight  p.  m.,  and  it  was  ten 
before  we  could  put  an  end  to  it.  For  every  one  wanted  to 
praise  the  great  and  merciful  God  who  had  seen  their  tears, 
heard  their  prayers,  silenced  the  storm,  made  the  furious 
waves  still,  and  saved  them.  Every  one  felt  and  proclaimed 
that,  indeed,  our  God  is  a  prayer-hearing  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Australia 

Our  noble  steamer  laid  her  anchors  in  the  calm  and  mag- 
nificent harbour  of  Port  Jackson,  on  the  29th  of  September, 
at  7  p.  M.,  after  her  narrow  and  almost  miraculous  escape  from 
the  hurricane  of  the  previous  night.  The  first  thing  we  did 
was  to  thank  God  for  having  brought  us  safely  into  our 
"desired  haven";  and  from  eight  to  ten  p.  m.,  the  walls  of  the 
great  saloon  echoed  with  the  sincere  expressions  of  our  grati- 
tude. 

At  half  past  ten  I  had  retired  to  my  room  and  was  pre- 
paring myself  for  the  night,  when  I  was  not  a  little  puzzled 
by  the  distant  sounds  of  a  great  multitude  of  voices  singing 
the  beautiful  hymn, 

"Ho,  my  comrades,  see  the  signal  waving  in  the  sky; 
Reinforcements  now  appearing — victory  is  nigh." 

My  windows  were  opened;  and  when  these  words,  gliding 
over  the  still  waters  of  the  sea,  ten  times  reverbrated  by  the 
surrounding  heights,  struck  my  ear,  and  when  the  perfect 
stillness  of  the  dark  night  was  broken  by  the  melodious  verses 
and  tune  repeated  by  several  hundreds  of  powerful  voices, 

"Hold  the  fort,  for  I  am  coming: 
Jesus  signals  still; 
Wave  the  answer  back  to  heaven — 
By  Thy  grace  we  will." 

my  soul  was  thrilled  with  such  sentiments  of  surprise, 
admiration  and  joy  that  no  words  can  adequately  ex- 
press. 

855 


356  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

"What  does  that  mean?"  I  said  to  myself.  But  the  voices 
came  nearer  and  nearer.  "  Are  we  not  yet  seven  miles  from 
Sydney?  These  voices  cannot,  then,  come  from  that  city. 
Do  they  come  from  the  near  shore  around  us?  Impossible! 
for  on  one  side  is  the  quarantine  hospital,  at  the  feet  of  which 
we  must  remain  till  we  have  our  clearance,  to=morrow  morn- 
ing, from  the  health  officer.  Surely,  the  few  unfortunate  sick 
people  who  are  behind  the  walls  of  that  hosjjital  cannot  make 
the  echoes  of  the  night  resound  with  such  powerful  and  melo- 
dious tunes.  Besides  that,  the  other  side  of  the  shore  is  a 
perfect  wilderness — naked  rocks — where  no  human  being  can 
think  of  passing  the  night  in  singing.  Evidently  that  mul- 
titude of  Christian  singers  are  on  a  steamer,  for  I  hear  the 
noise  of  her  wheels  slowly  approaching.  There,  I  see  her 
blue  and  red  lights  moving  through  the  darkness  towards 
us." 

The  night  was  very  dark,  which  made  the  numerous  lights 
of  our  mysterious  visitor  look  still  brighter. 

Suddenly  the  voices  stopjied,  and  the  whistle  of  the  strange 
steamer  filled  the  air,  to  call  our  attention.  When  the  black 
hull  of  the  unknown  steamship  was  about  fifty  feet  from  us 
a  profound  and  perfect  silence  succeeded  the  noise  of  the 
whistle  and  the  songs.  Every  one  on  our  steamer  had  their 
eyes  fixed  on  the  dark  object  which  was  silently  rocking  on 
our  leeboard,  and  every  one  whispered  to  his  neighbour, 
"What  does  it  mean?"  when  a  loud  voice  was  heard,  "Is 
not  Father  Chiniquy  on  board?"  Twenty  voices  answered, 
"  Yes,  Father  Chiniquy  is  on  board." 

"Tell  him  to  come  on  deck;  his  friends  of  Sydney  want  to 
see  him,"  rejoined  the  first  voice.  "  We  are  here  on  this 
steamer  to  give  him  an  Australian  welcome." 

I  could  hardly  believe  my  own  ears.  I  felt  so  confounded 
at  such  an  unexpected  and  unmerited  public  expression  of 
kindness  that  it  seemed,  at  first,  as  if  I  were  dreaming.  But 
no,  it  was  not  a  dream,  it  was  a  reality.  My  merciful  God 
had  prepared  for  His  unprofitable  servant  one  of  the  most  de- 


Australia  357 

licious  hours  of  his  life.  When  I  was  just  saying  to  myself 
"  Is  it  not  a  rash  and  foolish  act  on  my  part  to  have  come  alone 
to  this  distant  land,  where  I  have  only  one  friend  whom  I 
know?  Is  it  not  a  want  of  discretion  and  wisdom  in  me  to 
have  accepted  the  invitation  of  that  friend  to  come  and  rest  from 
my  labours  in  his  house?  Will  I  not  be  a  burden  to  him  and 
his  family?  Is  it  not  ridiculous,  with  the  burden  of  my 
seventy  years,  to  have  crossed  the  whole  hemisphere  to  come 
to  Australia?  Will  I  not  be  the  first  subject  of  the  scorn  of 
the  whole  world  for  such  a  rash  action  at  the  very  end  of  my 
life?  Will  not  God,  to  punish  me  for  this  act  of  folly,  make 
such  a  solitude  around  me  here  in  this  distant  land  that  I  will 
weep  as  I  remember  the  fatal  hour  when  I  left*  my 
missionary  field  of  Canada  to  recruit  a  bodily  strength  which 
cannot  be  recruited  at  such  an  age?" 

But  these  fears  soon  vanished  away  from  my  mind,  when 
in  the  presence  of  that  great  mercy  of  God.  The  less  I  de- 
served and  expected  so  solemn  and  so  great  a  mark  of 
kindness  on  the  part  of  my  unknown  friends  and  brethren  of 
Australia,  the  more  I  felt  overwhelmed  by  it.  My  emotion 
was  so  great  that  I  might  have  fainted  under  its  burden,  had 
not  big  tears  of  joy  gusned  out  of  my  eyes  and  rolled  down 
ray  cheeks,  when  kneeling  for  a  moment  in  my  cabin  to  say, 
"  O  my  God,  may  Thy  name  be  forever  blessed  for  Thy  mer- 
cies towards  me,  Thy  unprofitable  servant."  I  was  soon  on 
deck  to  answer,  "May  God  bless  you  all,  noble  Christians  of 
Sydney,  for  your  kindness  to  your  old  unknown  friend, 
Chiniquy.     Here  I  am  to  thank  and  bless  you  all." 

"  Do  you  not  recognize  the  voice  of  your  old  friend,  George 
Sutherland?"  asked  one  of  the  crowd. 

"Yes,  I  recognize  your  friendly  voice,  dear  and  kind  Mr. 
Sutherland,  and  I  bless  you,  here,  again,  for  all  you  have  al- 
ready done  for  my  dear  missions." 

"  But  it  is  not  enough  to  hear  you;  we  must  see  you,"  said 
several  voices,  "  Get  some  light  around  your  head  that  we 
may  see  your  face." 


358  Forty   Years   in   the   Church   of  Christ 

These  words  had  hardly  been  uttered  when  some  of  the 
kind  stewards  of  the  steamer  brought  around  me  some  of  their 
big  and  bright  lanterns. 

"Very  well!  very  well!"  cried  several  hundred  voices. 
"  We  are  satisfied.  We  have  heard  and  seen  you.  That  is 
all  we  wanted.  To-morrow  we  will  be  on  the  wharf  of  Sydney, 
where  you  will  land,  to  give  you  another  Australian  welcome. 
It  is  now  eleven  o'clock.  You  want  some  rest  after  the  ter- 
rible hurricane  of  last  night.  Go  and  take  that  rest.  Good 
night.    God  bless  you." 

"  May  God  bless  you,  noble  and  kind=hearted  friends,"  I  re- 
plied. 

Three  rousing  cheers  were  given,  and  the  national  anthem, 
"  God  save  the  Queen,"  was  sung  to  tell  us  that  the  noble 
friends  whom  God  had  given  me  in  Australia  were  as  loyal 
to  their  queen  as  they  were  devoted  to  their  God.  It  was  the 
signal  for  the  steamer  to  turn  her  bow  towards  Sydney  and 
leave  me  absolutely  overwhelmed  with  emotions  of  surprise, 
joy  and  gratitude  which  no  human  words  can  express.  But 
some  will  ask,  "  Who  is  that  Rev.  Mr.  Sutherland  who  seems 
to  be  at  the  head  of  your  friends  in  Australia?"  As  this 
question,  which  is  a  very  natural  one,  will  give  me  an  oppor- 
tunity of  presenting  one  of  the  most  admirable  and  striking 
evidences  that  our  God  is  a  prayer=hearing  God,  who  never 
deserts  those  who  put  their  trust  in  Him,  I  will  answer: 

When,  in  the  spring  of  1858,  the  bishops  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada  saw  that  I  had  definitely  broken  the  iron 
chains  by  which  I  was,  like  all  other  poor  priests  of  Rome, 
tied  to  their  feet,  they  wanted  to  make  of  me  such  an  example 
of  misery  and  desolation  that  no  other  priests  would  ever 
dare  to  follow  my  example,  Not  satisfied  with  excommuni- 
cating me  publicly  in  all  their  cathedrals,  in  their  synodical 
meetings  in  their  great  cities,  as  well  as  in  the  humblest 
churches  of  their  most  insignificant  villages,  they  spread 
everywhere  the  most  horrible  calumnies  against  my  honour 
and  my  character.     During  a  whole  year  a  real  deluge  of  de- 


Australia  359 

nunciation — calumnies  of  the  vilest  kinds — were  poured  on  my 
devoted  head  from  all  the  pulpits  and  through  all  the  weekly 
and  daily  journals  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  of  America. 
But,  not  satisfied  with  these  things,  they  engaged  men  to 
drag  me  before  the  civil  and  criminal  courts  and  summoned 
false  witnesses,  who  accused  me  of  crimes  for  which  I  would 
have  been,  if  not  hung,  at  least  sentenced  to  the  penitentiary 
for  life,  had  they  been  proved.  Though  perfectly  innocent,  I 
was  sure  to  be  found  guilty  and  to  be  condemned,  if  I  had  not 
defended  myself.  I  had  then  to  engage  the  best  lawyers  to 
defend  my  honour  and  to  protect  my  life  against  my  accusers. 
Among  those  lawyers  was  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  martyred 
President,  who  fell  under  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits,  through 
their  tool,  in  1865. 

During  more  than  a  year  I  was  left  alone  to  fight  my  bat- 
tles against  the  giant  power  of  Rome.  No  hope  could  come  to 
me  from  my  old  Roman  Catholic  friends;  they  were  bound  in 
conscience  to  curse  and  destroy  me.  And  no  help  could  be 
expected  from  the  Protestants,  whose  ears  were,  from  morn- 
ing to  night,  filled  with  calumnies  spread  everywhere  against 
my  honour,  and  who  were  under  the  impression  that  I  was  a 
disguised  Jesuit,  who  intended  to  deceive  them. 

Though  I  was  always,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  enabled 
to  prove  myself  innocent  before  the  civil  and  criminal  courts, 
these  suits  were  costing  me  great  sums  of  money,  and  my 
small  private  resources  were  soon  exhausted.  I  had  even 
soon  to  mortgage  everything  which  was  mine  to  pay  the  wit- 
nesses and  satisfy  the  lawyers.  When  the  time  came  to  pay 
and  redeem  those  mortgages,  I  was  unable  to  do  it.  Then  the 
sheriff  of  Kankakee  took  everything  in  my  possession,  even 
my  bed,  my  chairs,  my  last  cow,  my  library,  of  which  I  kept 
only  my  dear  Bible;  all  was  sold  by  the  sheriff  at  the  door 
of  the  public  court  of  Kankakee.  I  was  absolutely  ruined 
that  day.  I  had  not  a  pillow  on  which  to  rest  my  head,  and 
that  night  I  had  to  sleep  on  the  nak^d  floor. 

This  was  a  very  dark  hour  indeed  in  my  experience,  but  I 


360  Forty   Years    in   the    Church   of  Christ 

knew  for  whom  I  was  suflPering  all  those  things,  and  my  hope 
was  that  the  great  Captain  of  my  salvation,  under  the  banner 
of  whom  I  was  fighting,  would  sooner  or  later  come  to  my 
help,  for  I  had  put  my  trust  in  Him  and  Him  alone. 

The  very  next  morning,  when  I  was  on  my  knees,  crying 
to  God  for  mercy  and  help,  a  letter  was  handed  to  me  from 
Prince  Edward  Island  with  $500  in  it  "  to  strengthen  my 
hands  and  cheer  up  my  heart.''  That  letter  was  signed, 
George  Sutherland. 

So  it  was  that  the  very  same  noble=hearted  Christian  brother 
whom  God  had  chosen  as  the  instrument  of  His  mercies 
to  strengthen  my  hands  and  cheer  up  my  fainting  heart  in 
my  first  struggles  against  Rome,  in  1859,  was  the  very  same 
one  whom  He  had  sent  there  to  cheer  me  up  again,  guide  and 
protect  me  in  this  distant  land  of  Australia,  in  1878. 

How  many  times  when  working  in  England,  Scotland, 
Ireland,  the  United  States  and  Canada  I  have  understood  that 
a  true  friend  is  the  greatest  treasure  which  God  can  give  to 
man.  But  how  I  realized  the  value  of  that  most  precious 
of  treaures  when  it  was  again  presented  to  me  by  the  hands 
of  my  merciful  Heavenly  Father,  when  alone  at  a  distance 
of  ten  thousand  miles  from  my  home,  I  was  standing  on 
these  distant  but  hospitable  shores  of  Australia. 

"  O  sing  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song,  for  he  hath  done  mar- 
velous things:  His  right  hand  and  His  holy  arm  hath  gotten 
Him  the  victory.  He  hath  remembered  His  mercy  and  His 
truth  toward  the  house  of  Israel;  all  the  ends  of  the  earth 
hath  seen  the  salvation  of  our  God.  Let  the  sea  roar  and  the 
fullness  thereof;  the  world  and  they  that  dwell  therein.  Let 
tlie  floods  clap  their  hands;  let  the  hills  be  joyful  together." 
(Psalm  98.) 

Four  months  having  passed  since  I  had  landed  in  Sydney, 
by  the  great  mercy  of  Gcxl,  my  bodily  strength  had  been  so 
perfectly  restored,  that  I  had  given  eighty-two  lectures  and 
preached  fifty  sermons  since  the  day  of  my  arrival. 

In  this  strange  antipode  land  everything  seems  to  work 


Australia  361 

by  contrary  laws  from  those  of  the  northern  hemisphere. 
Such  a  work  ought  to  have  put  me  down,  but  it  was  the  con- 
trary. There  was  such  an  elasticity  in  the  pure  air  we 
breathed;  there  was  such  an  exuberance  of  life  coming  from 
those  evergreen  forests  and  those  everlasting  flowers;  there 
was  such  a  balm  spreading  from  those  enchanted  gardens, 
which  were  bathing  in  the  light  and  the  breeze  of  an  eternal 
spring,  that  my  threescore  and  ten  years  were  passing  with- 
out leaving  any  of  the  usual  ugly  traces  of  their  passage. 
The  only  thing  that  I  did  not  absolutely  enjoy  was  to  see  and 
feel  the  thermometer  marking,  quite  frequently,  from  140  to 
143  degrees  in  the  sun  and  110  in  the  shade.  Such  a  heat 
seems  almost  incredible  to  my  readers,  and  I  would  hardly 
believe  it  possible,  had  I  not  experienced  it  myself.  But, 
strange  to  say,  that  burning  state  of  the  atmosphere,  which 
would  be  intolerable,  and  which  would  kill  people  in  Canada, 
is  perfectly  bearable  there. 

However,  it  was  my  intention  to  go  to  some  cooler  part 
of  the  new  continent,  and  as  I  had  received  many  kind  invi- 
tations to  visit  the  great  cities  of  Melbourne,  Ballarat, 
Geelong,  Adelaide,  etc.,  in  the  southern  part  of  Victoria,  I  in- 
tended to  avail  myself  of  that  providential  chance  to  know 
something  more  of  our  terrestrial  globe.  Those  regions  are 
some  800  miles  nearer  the  eternal  ices  of  the  southern  pole, 
and  I  was  told  that  there  the  southern  breezes  of  the  sea  were 
unsurpassed  for  their  healthy  influence  on  the  people  who 
had  the  good  luck  to  breathe  their  perfumes. 

I  purposed  to  return  to  New  South  Wales  at  the  end  of  the 
hot  days  of  the  Australian  summer,  which  meant  that  I  in- 
tended to  come  back  to  Sydney  at  the  end  of  April  or  May, 
for  one  must  not  forget  that  there  the  summer  months  are 
December,  January  and  February.  The  autumn  months  are 
March,  ^  April  and  May.  The  spring  months,  September, 
October  and  November.  How  upside  down  the  world 
appeared  to  the  exiled  son  of  Canada. 

The  short  limits  of  a  chapter  will  not  permit  me  to  relate 


362  Forty  Years  in  the   Church  of  Christ 

all  that  I  saw  of  the  visible  manifestations  of  the  mer- 
cies of  God  towards  several  Roman  Catholics  who  attended 
my  lectures  in  Sydney.     I  will  give  only  one  or  two  facts. 

A  well-educated  Catholic  lady  had  come,  through  curiosity, 
to  hear  my  second  address  on  "  Auricular  Confession,"  though 
her  priest  had  strictly  forbidden  her  to  do  so.  In  order  not 
to  be  known  by  the  spies  the  priests  had  at  the  doors  of  the 
hall  to  report  the  names  of  their  disobedient  children,  she  had 
so  well  disguised  herself  that  nobody  could  recognize  her. 
She  listened  with  breathless  attention  from  the  first  to  the 
last  words,  though  she  was  uncomfortably  crushed  in  her  seat 
by  the  multitude  which  was  crammed  around  her.  But  in- 
stead of  smiling  and  laughing  with  the  rest  of  the  crowd,  she 
was  weeping  all  the  time;  for  her  personal  experience  of  the 
abominations  of  Auricular  Confession  were  almost  word 
for  word  the  awful  repetition  of  what  she  was  hearing. 

When  she  went  home  she  fell  on  her  knees,  took  a  Gospel 
book  and  read  the  chapters  which  I  had  cited,  and  which  she 
had  taken  down  in  her  note=book.  She  found  what  I  had 
said  was  true,  that  it  was  not  at  the  feet  of  a  miserable,  sinful 
man,  but  only  at  the  feet  of  the  Lamb  that  sinners  had  to  go  to 
find  peace,  life  and  pardon.  She  did  not  want  any  one  to 
tell  her  that,  far  from  being  purified  and  sanctified  by  pouring 
into  the  ears  of  her  confessor  the  sad  history  of  her  sins,  she 
had  always  come  out  of  the  confessiorial  more  guilty  and  miser- 
able by  the  questions  put  to  her  and  the  answers  she  had  to 
make.  After  a  couple  of  days  of  angui.sh,  tears  and  prayers, 
the  voice  of  God  was  heard  in  her  soul  with  such  a  power 
that  she  determined  to  do  what  I  had  advised  her,  to  look  to 
Christ  and  to  Him  alone  for  pardon  and  peace.  With  Magda- 
lene, she  went  to  the  dear  Saviour's  feet,  bathed  them  with  the 
tears  of  her  love  and  repentance,  and,  like  that  model  of  peni- 
tents, she  hoard  fhe  sweet  voice  of  Jesus  telling  her,  "  Thy 
sins  are  forgiven,  for  thou  hast  loved  Me  much."  Her  joy 
and  happiness  were  unspeakable  at  this  first  experience  of  her 
regeneration.     There  was  only  one  tiling  which  marred  her 


Australia  2^3 

happiness:  "  What  will  my  dear  Emma  say  when  she  hears 
that  1  have  left  the  Church  of  Rome  to  become  a  Protestant? 
That  dear  sister  is  so  devoted!  She  is  so  fond  of  her  father 
confessor!  She  is  scrupulous  to  go  to  mass  every  morning, 
and  receive  the  communion  every  Sabbath  and  every  festival 
day  of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary!  How  angry  she  will  be 
against  me ! " 

Such  were  the  fears  of  our  interesting  new  convert  about 
her  younger  sister.  When,  five  or  six  days  later,  she  received 
her  visit  as  usual,  she  threw  herself  into  her  arms  and  kissed 
her  with  the  most  sincere  aifection.  But,  after  a  few  minutes 
of  conversation,  her  young  sister  said  to  her:  "  My  dear  Mary, 
allow  me  to  ask  you  the  cause  of  that  unusual  embarrassment 
which  I  notice  in  you.  Though  you  have  received  me  with 
your  usual  love  and  kindness,  there  is  something  strange  in 
your  voice  and  manners  which  I  cannot  understand.  You 
look  distressed  and  uneasy.     What  does  that  mean?" 

"  You  are  not  mistaken,  Emma,  when,  for  the  first  time  in 
my  life,  you  find  that  I  am  a  little  uneasy  and  distressed  with 
you.  I  have  a  secret  to  tell  you  which  I  fear  will  make  you 
feel  bad  against  me.  But  I  have  prayed  our  merciful  God  to 
grant  you  the  same  favour  He  has  granted  me,  and  I  hope  He 
will  hear  your  elder  sister  and  most  devoted  friend's  prayer. 
I  must  tell  you  I  am  no  more  a  Roman  Catholic.  I  have 
forever  given  up  that  Church  in  order  to  follow  Christ  and 
Him  alone." 

"Is  it  possible?"  exclaimed  Emma.  "And  how  long  is 
it  since  you  have  given  up  the  religion  in  which  we  were 
both  reared  ?  " 

"  Since  I  heard  the  lecture  of  Pastor  Ohiniquy  last  week 
T  found  that  what  he  said  of  the  polluting  and  damning 
influencef^  of  Auricular  Confession  was  so  perfectly  like  what 
I  know  by  my  own  personal  experience,  that  I  am  sure  he  was 
true  and  honest  in  all  that  he  said.  I  have  read  the  Gospel 
with  the  utmost  attention  this  whole  week.  I  have  so  ear- 
nestly prayed  the  Author  of  every  perfect  gift  to  direct  and 


364  Forty   Years  in    the   Church  oi  Christ 

guide  me,  that  I  feel  sure  to  be  in  the  true  religion  of  Christ 
when  I  put  my  trust  only  in  His  blood  shed  and  His  life 
given  up  on  Calvary  to  save  my  soul." 

"May  Almighty  God  be  forever  blessed,"  answered  Emma, 
with  a  cry  of  joy,  and  tears  trickling  down  her  cheeks.  "  I 
was  at  that  same  lecture  on  Auricular  Confession,  and,  like  you, 
I  felt  and  knew  by  my  own  sad  experience  that  Auricular  Con- 
fession is  a  school  of  perdition.  Like  you,  I  have  given  up 
the  Church  of  Kome,  and  I  have  found  at  the  dear  Saviour's 
feet  a  joy  and  a  peace  that  passeth  understanding." 

The  two  sisters  fell  into  the  arms  of  each  other,  and,  bath- 
ing each  other's  faces  with  the  tears  of  unspeakable  joy,  they 
blessed  the  merciful  Saviour  who  had  made  them  free  by 
His  Word,  and  pure  by  His  blood. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV 

Visit  to  Hobert  Town.     Account  of  the  Distarbances.      Qosing  Lecture — 
Dramatic  Scenes. 

During  my  stay  in  Australia  I  spent  some  time  in  Tas- 
mania, This  is  about  three=fourtlis  the  size  of  Ireland,  and 
has  nearly  fifty  islets  surrounding  it.  It  has  a  great  variety 
of  surface,  and  much  grand  scenery.  Its  former  name  was 
Van  Diemen's  Land.  It  has  lofty  mountains,  one  of  which,  Ben 
Lomond,  is  5,500  feet  high,  and  several  large  lakes  and  rivers, 

Hobert  Town  is  the  chief  place  and  contains  30,000  people. 
The  principal  square  in  the  city  is  called  Queen's  Domain, 
and  there  is  a  town  hall  which  cost  $60,000.  The  place  is 
well  supplied  with  schools,  churches  and  newspapers. 

I  arrived  at  Hobert  Town  on  Saturday,  June  21,  1879, 
and  was  received  by  a  number  of  clergymen,  among  whom 
was  the  Kev,  R.  Maclaren  Webster,  of  the  Chalmers  Presby- 
terian Church,  who  had  arranged  for  my  entertainment  at  his 
pleasant  home.  On  the  Sabbath  I  preached  in  the  Chalmers 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  in  the  afternoon  in  the  Melville 
Wesley  an  Church.  On  the  latter  occasion  I  spoke  on  the 
duties,  responsibilities,  privileges  and  glories  of  the  Christian. 
In  my  discourse  I  expressed  a  fear  that  some  of  the  soldiers 
composing  the  army  of  Christ,  instead  of  being  on  the 
aggressive,  were  more  inclined  to  come  to  terms  of  peace  with 
the  enemy  at  any  price.  I  pointed  to  the  valour  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  British  nation  in  subduing  other  powers;  con- 
tended that,  whenever  Great  Britain  had  been  engaged  in  a 
conflict  in  which  Romanism  was  involved,  the  British  had 
gained  a  victory;  and  referred  to  the  overthrow  of  Rome,  not 
by  carnal  weapons,  but  by  a  spiritual  warfare,  and  at  the  same 
time  disclaimed  being  an  enemy  of  Roman  Catholics,  whose 

365 


366  Fortv   Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

honesty,  earnestness  and  fidelity  I  spoke  of  in  favourable 
terms.  I  contended,  however,  that  with  all  those  qualities  they 
were  a  deluded  class  of  religionists  and  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  Protestants  to  effect  the  opening  of  their  spiritual  sight,  so 
that  they  might  be  enabled  to  realize  the  blessedness  of  the 
Christian  religion.  I  alluded  to  the  parable  of  the  rich  man 
and  Lazarus,  and  in  its  application  showed  that  the  rich  man 
was  represented  by  Christians  who  were  in  the  possession  of 
the  Bread  of  Life,  but  neglected  to  supply  the  spiritual  wants 
of  their  Roman  Catholic  brethren,  who  stood  in  the  relation 
of  Lazarus. 

I  had  arranged  to  deliver  a  series  of  lectures  to  be  given 
during  the  whole  week,  the  Town  Hall  having  been  definitely 
engaged  for  that  purpose;  the  first  lecture  to  be  given  on 
Monday  evening. 

The  large  hall  on  that  evening  was  filled,  and  on  the  plat- 
form were  several  of  the  leading  clergymen  of  the  city. 
After  the  usual  devotional  exercises,  I  began  my  lecture. 
There  were  several  attempts  to  create  a  disturbance,  and  the 
police  present  seemed  to  have  little  control,  but  the  general 
body  of  the  audience  being  orderly,  peace  in  every  instance 
was  soon  restored.  However,  this  was  only  the  beginning  of 
the  disturbance  and  the  persecutions  which  were  to  come  on 
the  following  evenings.  Romanism  is  the  same  there  that  it 
is  in  all  other  places;  it  demands  liberty  for  itself,  but 
refuses  it  to  those  who  differ  from  it.  Its  loud  talk  about 
liberty  of  conscience  in  any  proper  sense  is  all  hypocritical 
and  false. 

On  Tuesday  evening  I  was  to  lecture  in  the  same  place. 
A  letter  appeared  during  the  day  in  a  newspaper  called  the 
Mercury,  published  by  a  leading  Romanist  whose  name  was 
Hunter,  and  who  had  a  great  influence  on  his  fellow=religion- 
ists  in  their  subsequent  conduct.  He  expressed  surprise 
that  I  should  be  allowed  the  use  of  the  town  Hall  for  hold- 
ing such  "  orgies,"  as  he  expressed  it. 

The  hall  on  this  evening  became  the  arena  of  an  extraordi- 


Visit  to  Hobert  Town  367 

nary  and  disgraceful  scene.  I  pass  over  here  some  of  the  de- 
tails of  that  stormy  meeting,  where  the  elements  of  bedlam 
and  pandemonium  seemed  to  be  combined.  It  was  found 
that  the  lecture  could  not  be  given. 

It  was  at  last  resolved,  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  Scott,  sec- 
onded by  Mr.  Napier,  that  all  legitimate  means,  inclusive  of 
our  appeal  to  the  police,  having  failed  to  enable  the  meeting 
to  be  carried  on,  it  be  dismissed.  After  the  lapse  of  ten  min- 
utes, during  which  the  rowdies  sang  "John  Brown,"  and  "We 
won't  go  home  till  morning,"  the  audience  gradually  dis- 
persed at  about  half^past  nine  o'clock. 

On  Wednesday  evening  the  rioters  had  mostly  their  own 
way,  so  that  the  meeting  could  not  go  on.  The  particulars 
of  this  I  pass  over 

On  Thursday  preparations  were  made  for  the  struggle  in 
connection  with  the  meeting  in  the  evening.  Both  parties 
were  quite  active  The  party  in  favor  of  the  law  and  order 
sent  a  committee  to  the  acting  Colonial  Secretary,  Hon.  H.  L. 
Crowther.  The  Roman  Catholics  sent  a  deputation  to  the 
Mayor  to  remonstrate  against  my  utterances  in  the  Town 
Hall.  A  special  meeting  of  the  City  Council  was  held  in  the 
afternoon  to  consider  the  situation  and  decide  what  might  be 
best  to  do.  The  motion  that  the  Council  be  prepared  to 
maintain  peace  and  order  was  carried.  The  Romanists  were 
not  idle  in  the  meantime.  Having  failed  through  their  depu- 
tation to  the  Mayor  to  secure  the  cancellation  of  my  engage- 
ments in  the  Town  Hall,  they  resolved  to  hold  a  mass  meet- 
ing outside  on  Domain  Square,  the  burning  of  Chiniquy  in 
effigy  to  be  a  part  of  the  programme.  To  make  a  greater  im- 
pression, it  was  decided  to  summon  friends  from  the  country 
around.  The  general  intention,  though  not  expressed,  was 
evidently  to  make  a  violent  assault  on  the  Town  Hall.  Late 
at  night  the  Bishop,  who  had  been  apparently  inactive,  for- 
bade the  meeting  by  a  pastoral  letter.  He  was  evidently 
afraid  of  bloodshed,  and  concluded  to  interfere  as  a  matter 
of  policy. 


368  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

Friday  came,  and  the  authorities  determined  to  take  steps 
to  put  down  the  law  breakinfj;,  while  the  action  of  the  Roman- 
ists was  douljtful.  The  Bishop,  fearing  the  terrible  results 
which  would  be  likely  to  follow  a  collision  between  his  peo- 
ple and  the  authorities,  went  to  the  meeting  in  the  Domain 
at  six  o'clock  and  implored  the  assembly  to  disperse,  and  not 
commit  any  breach  of  the  peace.  The  result  was  that  the 
second  lecture  in  the  course  was  given  on  Friday  evening 
without  disturbance. 

There  was  a  call  by  the  Mayor,  through  the  papers,  for  spe- 
cial constables.  This  was  largely  responded  to,  and  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  were  sworn  in.  The  information  having  been 
received  that  a  most  alarming  riot  would  be  likely  to  take 
place,  the  government  in  the  afternoon  decided  on  securing 
the  assistance  of  the  volunteers,  and  word  was  sent  to  the 
officers  and  men  that  there  would  be  a  parade  at  the  barracks 
at  five  o'clock.  The  military  force  thus  suddenly  called  and 
prepared  amounted  to  the  number  of  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
nine  men. 

In  the  meantime  all  the  influence  of  the  Romish  clergy 
was  used  to  prevent  the  meeting  in  the  Domain.  They 
visited  members  of  their  church  with  great  zeal  to  persuade 
them  not  to  attend  the  meeting  in  the  evening,  and  to  remain 
in  their  houses.  The  Bishop  and  his  clergy  resolved  to  visit 
the  meeting  in  the  evening  and  urge  those  present  to  retire 
to  their  houses,  and  avoid  serious  consequences. 

I  give  here  a  copy  of  the  letter  which  the  Bishop  issued  on 
Friday: 

"To  the  Catholics  of  Hobert  Town:  Seeing  that  your  ef- 
forts to  prevent  the  City  Council  letting  the  Town  Hall  for 
the  purposes  to  which  it  has  been  devoted  during  this  week 
have  failed,  and  being  informed  that  further  demonstrations 
on  your  part  in  that  direction  will  be  resisted  by  the  force  of 
law,  leading  probably  to  rioting  and  bloodshed,  I  most 
earnestly  request  that  you  will  have  the  good  sense  to  abstain 


Visit  to   Hobert  Town  369 

from  making  any  further  attempts  to  vindicate,  on  the  pres- 
ent occasion,  your  rights  as  citizens  and  ratepayers,  and  to 
absent  yourselves  from  the  precincts  of  the  Town  Hall  this 
evening.  My  only  object  in  thus  appealing  to  you  is  to  pre- 
vent injury  to  persons  and  property,  and  to  induce  you  to  show 
your  respect  for  yourselves  as  Catholics  and  loyal  citizens. 

"  Daniel  Murphy, 
"  Bishop  of  Hobert  Town. 
"  Hobert  Town,  June  27th,  1878." 

This  letter  of  the  Bishop  is  very  significant  and  suggestive. 
He,  of  course,  knew  what  was  going  on  in  connection  with 
the  rioting  of  the  Romanists,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the 
meetings  at  the  Town  Hall.  There  was  a  direct  violation  of 
law  and  order  before  his  eyes,  but  he  never  remonstrated 
against  it.  But  when  the  government  proposes  to  interfere 
by  armed  force,  he  appears  on  the  scene.  His  letter  does  not 
appeal  to  any  motives  of  conscience  or  obedience  to  law, 
peace,  and  good  order.  He  sees  that  the  argument  to  protect 
the  rights  of  British  subjects,  to  be  resorted  to  after  all  argu- 
ments addressed  to  reason  and  conscience,  is  that  of  armed 
force.  He  trembles  and  fears  results,  and  urges  his  slaves  to 
be  quiet  lest  they  be  shot  down.  What  a  position  this  letter 
puts  him  in,  and  what  a  black  reflection  on  the  system  he 
represents ! 

At  a  large  meeting  held  shortly  after  by  Protestants,  there 
was  strong  action,' called  out  by  this  letter  of  the  Bishop 
which  I  here  record.  Rev.  B.  Butchers,  after  stating  at  the 
meeting  that  he  had  an  unpleasant  duty  to  perform,  remarked 
that  they  were,  of  course,  aware  that  during  the  last  two  or 
three  days  a  pastoral  had  been  issued  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
Bishop  relating  to  the  disgraceful  disturbances,  and  it  was 
laid  upon  him,  by  Pastor  Chiniquy's  committee,  to  enter  a 
very  earnest  and  very  solemn  protest  against  the  spirit  and 
sentiment  of  the  pastoral  letter.  It  would  be  altogether 
against  the  dignity  of  the  committee  of  the  pastors,  and  alto- 


370  P'orty  Years  in    the  Church  of  Christ 

gether  beneath  the  dignity  of  such  an  influential  and  repre- 
sentative meeting  as  that,  to  have  taken  any  notice  of  any 
individual  utterances  of  Bishop  Murphy,  his  clergy,  or  any 
other  gentlemen  in  the  city.  But  it  is  not  beneath  the  dig- 
nity of  that,  or  any  other  assembly,  to  take  notice  of  the  calm, 
deliberate,  and  official  utterance  of  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
dignitary  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  city  and  in 
Tasmania.  More  especially  was  this  the  case  when  the  senti- 
ment and  principle  contained  in  that  official  utterance  was 
such  as  to  be  subversive  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  it 
was  on  that  ground  that  the  protest  he  was  about  to  read,  and 
which  he  imagined  would  be  endorsed  by  that  meeting,  had 
been  drawn  up. 

THE  PROTEST 

"  This  meeting  having  heard  read  Bishop  Murphy's  letter 
to  his  flock,  desires  to  record  its  most  earnest  and  solemn  pro- 
test against  it,  on  the  following  grounds,  viz: — 

"First:  Because  it  begins  with  a  statement  which  is  at 
variance  with  truth,  inasmuch  as  it  is  beyond  dispute  that 
while  an  organized  band  of  Catholics  by  lawless  violence,  on 
three  successive  nights,  prevented  Pastor  Chiniquy,  his  com- 
mittee, and  the  citizens  generally  from  using  the  hall,  after  it 
had  been  let  by  the  Town  Hall  conmiittee,  and  that  also  a 
large  and  influential  deputation  of  Roman  Catholics  waited 
uijon  the  Mayor  and  City  Council  for  the  avowed  purpose  of 
inducing  them  to  break  through  their  contract  with  Pastor 
Chiniquy's  committee,  no  'efforts'  whatever  were  made  by 
Roman  Catholics  to  '  prevent  the  City  Council  from  letting 
the  Town  Hall  for  the  purposes  to  which  it  has  been  devoted 
during  the  week.' 

"  Secondly:  Because  the  Bishop,  in  affirming  that  '  further 
demonstrations  on  the  part  of  his  flock  in  that  direction  will 
be  resisted  by  force  of  law,  leading  probably  to  rioting  and 
bloodshed,'  ignores  entirely  the  notorious  fact  that  serious 
'rioting'  Ipid  already  taken  place,  and  that  bloodshed  'had 


Visit  to   Hobert  Town  371 

only  been  averted  by  the  Christian  forbearance  of  the  law^^ 
abiding  and  lawful  occupants  of  the  hall,  and  most  unjusti- 
fiably throws  the  entire  responsibility  of  prospective  '  rioting 
and  bloodshed,'  not  on  his  riotous  flock,  but  on  the  civil 
authorities  who  were  determined  to  repress  such  lawless 
'  efforts'  by  the  '  force  of  law.' 

"Thirdly:  Because  Bishop  Murphy  does  not  in  his 
pastoral  letter  express  the  slightest  regret  or  indignation 
on  account  of  '  efforts '  which  the  Mayor  of  Hobert  Town 
officially  and  justly  designates  the  '  late  disorderly  and  unlaw- 
ful proceedings  at  the  Town  Hall.' 

"Fourthly:  Because,  in  earnestly  requesting  his  flock  to 
'have  the  good  sense  to  abstain  from  making  any  further 
attempts  to  vindicate  their  rights  as  citizens  and  ratepayers,' 
Bishop  Murphy,  so  far  from  condemning  and  reproving  the 
*  late  disorderly  and  unlawful  proceedings,'  officially  justifies 
and  sanctions  and  applauds  them. 

"Fifthly:  Because,  in  stating  that  his  'only  object'  in 
thus  appealing  to  his  flock  '  is  to  prevent  injury  to  persons 
and  property,  and  to  induce  you  to  show  your  respect  for 
yourselves  as  Catholics  and  loyal  citizens,'  the  Bishop  entirely 
and  disloyally  ignores  the  supreme  obligations  which  he  and 
his  flock  are  under,  not  only  in  respecting  persons,  property 
and  themselves,  but  also  the  laws  of  the  land  and  their 
legitimate  administrators. 

"Sixthly:  Because,  in  expressly  limiting  his  request  to 
the  '  present  occasion,'  Bishop  Murphy  does  not  only  not  for- 
bid, but  directly  invites  similar  '  disorderly  and  unlawful  pro- 
ceedings'  at  some  future  and  more  favourable  season." 

After  reading  the  protest,  M  r.  Butchers  said  if  the  meeting 
endorsed  it  they  would  manifest  it  by  rising  to  their  feet. 

The  meeting  rose  almost  unanimously. 

The  Rfev.  Mr.  Webster  then  rose  and  said  he  had  the  honour 
to  be  deputed  to  read  an  address  to  me  presented  by  the 
committee. 

The  address  stated  that  prior  to  leaving  Hobert  Town  after 


37-  Portv   Years   in   the  Church  ot  Christ 

the  exciting  and  historical  disturbances  of  the  past  week,  the 
committee  were  desirous  of  recording  a  very  sincere,  earnest 
and  emphatic  opinion  respecting  my  character,  so  far  as 
known  to  them.  They  did  not  forget  that  I  came  into  their 
midst  sufficiently  accredited  by  my  sacrifices,  sufferings  and 
labours,  as  well  as  by  the  indisputable  fact  of  my  being  a 
minister  of  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Church,  bearing  trust- 
worthy credentials  commending  me  to  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  Christian  men,  wherever  the  providence  of  God 
might  direct  my  steps.  They  desired  further  to  say  that  so 
far  as  they  had  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  my  facts,  proofs 
and  arguments,  they  had  always  found  them  trustworthy,  and 
they  here  expressed  their  most  decided  opinion  that  if  my 
facts  could  be  disproved,  if  my  quotations  were  garbled  or 
false,  and  my  arguments  inconclusive,  it  was  imperatively 
incumbent  upon  my  opponents,  in  the  best  interests  of 
morality,  to  discharge  this  public  duty.  They  further  desired 
to  testify  that,  during  my  present  visit,  and  amidst  the  extra- 
ordinary irritation  and  excitement  that  had  prevailed,  I  had 
uniformly  both  in  my  public  and  private  deportment  a  spirit 
of  moderation  and  Christian  charity  toward  those  from  whose 
communion  I  had  severed  myself,  such  as  to  command  their 
admiration  and  esteem,  and  they  desired  now  to  take  an  affec- 
tionate farewell  of  me,  commending  me  and  my  noble  mission 
to  the  grace  of  that  God  who  had  so  marvelously  enlightened, 
guided,  protected  and  blessed  me  during  my  past  life  and 
work,  and  who,  as  they  fervently  prayed,  would  continue  the 
same  mercy  to  the  end. 

The  address  was  signed  by  the  committee. 

On  rising  to  reply,  I  said  I  could  not  sufficiently  express 
my  gratitude  and  admiration  for  what  I  had  seen  and  heard, 
not  only  that  day,  but  during  the  whole  week.  I  had  been 
providentially  brought  into  their  midst,  trusting  to  find  here 
true  liberty  and  Christianity,  and  I  had  not  been  mistaken. 
By  the  great  mercy  of  God,  I  had  found  not  only  what  I  ex- 
pected, but  much  more.     I  thanked  my  committee  for  the 


Visit  to   Hobert  Town  373 

address  they  had  presented  to  me.  It  had  come  from  friends 
who  had  stood  in  my  defense  as  soldiers  of  liberty,  and  who 
proved  themselves  as  true  sons  of  England,  and  worthy  of  her 
glorious  freedom,  which  made  her  so  great  in  the  world. 
These  friends  had  stood  by  me  in  a  time  of  danger.  I  felt 
no  danger  because  they  stood  as  a  wall  before  me,  protecting 
me  from  the  pistols  and  daggers  of  my  enemies,  who  would 
have  had  to  pass  over  their  bodies  to  harm  me.  They  were 
stronger  than  the  walls  of  the  strongest  fortress,  for  there 
was  nothing  so  strong  as  a  fearless  heart.  I  had  come  there 
to  speak,  not  trusting  in  my  own  strength,  but  in  Divine 
help.  I  was  but  weak  and  faltering,  but,  aided  by  God,  1 
might  be  the  instrument  of  giving  them  light.  I  am  a 
British  subject,  and  claim  the  rights  and  liberties  of  English- 
men. Born  under  the  British  flag,  like  those  before  me,  I 
know  perhaps  better  than  you  the  danger  which  menaces  that 
flag.  From  having  been  for  twenty-five  years  in  the  camp  of 
the  enemy,  I  was  able  to  study  their  plots  and  machinations, 
and  now  I  can  raise  my  feeble  voice  in  warning  against  the 
threatening  danger.  What  I  am  about  to  say  here  I  have 
said  in  England,  in  Scotland,  in  Ireland  and  in  America,  and 
I  thought  it  was  my  duty  to  come  to  Australia  to  tell  you  of 
it  too.  The  Australians  are  young  in  years,  but  from  the 
marvelous  rapidity  of  their  growth  they  are  giants  in  strength 
and  development,  a  mighty  people,  but  you  are  sleeping  upon 
a  volcano — and  you  do  not  suspect  it.  There  are  great 
dangers  ahead  for  Great  Britain  and  its  colonies,  dangers  as 
vast  as  the  ocean  which  is  around  the  beautiful  Tasmanian 
shores,  as  deep  as  the  Pacific  seas  we  have  to  cross  to  reach 
each  other.  Yes,  the  danger  is  great  and  near,  and  yet  you 
do  not  suspect  it.  Having  been  raised  in  the  atmosphere  of 
a  Christian  household,  fed  on  the  bread  which  Christ  had 
bought  with  His  blood,  there  is  a  spirit  of  honesty,  kindness 
and  Christianity  in  you  which  prevents  you  from  suspecting 
the  danger  which  is  at  your  doors.  Even  when  I  tell  you  the 
truth,  you  will   suppose   it   to   be  an  exaggeration;  for   the 


374  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

Church  of  Rome  is  so  wise  and  skilful  in  her  ways,  her  plots 
are  so  well  laid  against  your  liberties,  your  constitution  and 
Queen;  it  does  all  this  with  such  inj^enuity,  making  it 
appear  like  patriotism,  fair  play,  and  C^hristianity,  that  it  is 
really  difficult  for  any  one  to  understand  the  dangers.  But  I 
have  asked  for  help  to=day  from  God,  and  I  hope  that  guided 
by  His  Spirit  I  shall  be  able  to  throw  some  light  on  that 
great  subject. 

The  dangers  ahead  for  England  and  her  colonies  come 
first  from  the  corruption  of  Rome,  and  that  corru^Dtion  is 
caused  chiefly  by  the  practise  of  Auricular  Confession.  I  then 
spoke  of  the  practise  of  confession  carried  on  in  the 
Episcopalian  Church,  even  in  Hobert  Town,  where  I  knew 
from  good  authority  that  it  was  practised  privately.  I  spoke 
at  length  of  confession  as  the  destruction  of  morality,  and 
therefore  as  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  that  was  menacing 
England.  It  was  the  death  of  honesty,  the  death  of  purity,  the 
death  of  holiness. 

There  was  another  danger.  Not  only  were  honesty  and 
holiness  the  foundation  of  a  Christian  state,  but  education. 
The  Church  of  Rome  was  the  enemy  of  education  and  light. 
That  Church  could  thrive  only  by  the  ignorance  of  her 
people,  and  for  that  reason  she  made  every  effort  to  keep 
the  people  in  ignorance,  to  destroy  intelligence.  It  was 
true  that  in  the  Church  of  Rome  there  were  houses  of 
education,  and  great  sacrifices  were  made  by  the  Church  in 
order  to  build  and  support  them,  and  to  have  men  and  women 
to  teach;  but  the  education  of  the  Church  of  Rome  was  a  de- 
ception. This  I  established  by  several  arguments  drawn  from 
facts,  from  history  and  from  the  very  nature  of  Romanism. 

I  alluded  to  Bishop  Smith's  pastoral  to  prove  that  the  edu- 
cation Roman  Catholics  receive  from  their  superiors  is  con- 
ducive to  intolerance  and  treason. 

"How  could  it  be  otherwise?"  I  said.  "The  Church  of 
Rome  is  led  by  the  Jesuits,  and  the  Jesuitical  creed  placed 
the  Pope's  authority  before  that  of  the  Queen." 


Visit   to   Robert  Town  375 

Then  on  my  request  a  part  of  the  creed  of  the  Jesuits  was  read 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Butchers  as  follows: — When  Pope  Clement 
XIV.  issued  a  bull  in  1773,  abolishing  the  order  of  Jesuits, 
annulling  its  statutes,  and  releasing  the  members  from  their 
vows,  its  constitution  was  made  public,  and  embraced  the 
following  oath: — "  I,  A.  B.,  now  in  the  presence  of  Almighty, 
God.  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  the  Blessed  Michael,  the  Arch- 
angel, the  Blessed  St.  John  Baptist,  the  Holy  Apostles  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul,  and  the  saints  and  sacred  host  of  heaven,  do 
declare  from  my  heart,  without  mental  reservation,  that  Pope 
Gregory  is  Christ's  Vicar-general,  and  is  the  only  true  and 
only  head  of  the  Universal  Church  throughout  the  earth;  and 
that  by  virtue  of  the  keys  of  binding  and  loosing,  given  to 
His  Holiness  by  Jesus  Christ,  he  hath  power  to  depose 
heretical  kings,  princes,  states,  commonwealths  and  govern- 
ments, all  being  illegal  without  his  sacred  confirmation,  and 
that  they  may  safely  be  destroyed;  therefore,  to  the  utmost 
of  my  power,  I  will  defend  this  doctrine  and  His  Holiness, 
rights  and  customs  against  all  usurpers  of  the  heretical,  or 
Protestant  authority  whatsoever,  especially  against  the  now 
pretended  authority  and  Church  of  England,  and  all  adherents 
in  regard  that  they  be  usurped  and  heretical,  opposing  the 
sacred  Mother  Church  of  Rome.  I  do  renounce  and  disown 
any  allegiance  as  due  to  any  heretical  king,  prince,  or  state 
named  Protestant,  or  to  any  of  their  inferior  magistrates 
or  officers.  I  do  further  declare  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of 
England,  of  the  Calvinists,  Huguenots,  and  other  Protestants, 
to  be  damnable,  and  those  to  be  damned  who  will  not  forsake 
the  same.  I  do  further  declare  that  I  will  help,  assist,  and 
advise  all  or  any  of  His  Holiness'  agents  in  any  place  where- 
ever  I  shall  be,  and  do  my  utmost  to  extirpate  the  heretical 
Protestant  doctrine,  and  to  destroy  all  their  pretended  power, 
legal  or  otherwise.  I  do  further  promise  and  declare,  notwith- 
standing that  I  am  dispensed  with  to  assume  any  religion  heret- 
ical for  the  propagation  of  the  Mother  Church's  interests,  to 
keep  secret  and  private  all  her  agents,  counsels,  as  they  entrust 


376  Forty   Years   in   the   Church   of  Christ 

me,  and  not  to  divulge,  directly  or  indirectly,  l^y  word,  writing 
or  circumstance  wliatsoever,  but  to  execute  all  which  shall  be 
l^roposcd,  given  in  charge,  or  discovered  unto  me,  by  you  my 
ghostly  father,  or  by  any  of  this  convent.  All  of  which  I,  A.  B., 
do  swear  by  the  blessed  Trinity  and  blessed  sacrament,  which 
I  am  now  to  receive,  to  perform,  and  on  my  part  to  keep  in- 
violable; and  do  call  all  the  heavenly  and  glorious  hosts  of 
heaven  to  witness  my  real  intentions  to  keep  this  my  oath. 
In  testimony  hereof,  I  take  this  most  holy  and  blessed  sacra- 
ment of  the  Eucharist,  and  witness  the  same  further  with  my 
hand  and  seal,  in  the  face  of  this  holy  convent." 

"You  have  in  this  solemn  oath  of  the  Jesuits,"  I  added,  "a 
sworn  document  which  tells  you  more  than  my  words  that  a 
true  Roman  Catholic  priest  and  layman  must  be  a  traitor  in 
your  camp.  For  it  is  to  the  Pope  that  he  must  be  obedient 
in  civil  as  well  as  religious  matters.  After  such  an  oath  to 
the  Pope,  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Queen  is  only  dust 
thrown  into  your  eyes,  as  you  may  see  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  the  Dublin  Tablet  of  July  26,  1851: — 'Neither  in 
England  nor  in  Ireland  will  the  Roman  Catholic  obey  the 
law.  It  is  not  a  law.  It  is  a  lie.  The  law  of  God,  that  is, 
the  Pope's  command,  will  be  carried  into  effect;  the  Parlia- 
ment's law  will  be  spit  upon  and  trampled  under  foot. 
Rather  than  our  loyalty  to  the  Holy  See  should  be  in  the 
least  degree  tarnished,  let  ten  thousand  kings  and  queens 
(Queen  Victoria  included)  perish;  let  them  be  deposed  from 
their  thrones.  When  the  Pope  and  the  Queen  are  placed  in 
antagonism  to  each  other,  and  it  is  intimated  that  Her  Maj- 
esty would  not  accept  a  divided  allegiance,  we  are  compelled 
to  say  plainly  which  allegiance  we  consider  the  more  impor- 
tant, and  we  would  not  hesitate  to  tell  the  Queen  to  her  face, 
that  she  must  either  be  content  with  this  divided  allegiance, 
or  none  at  all.  Let  us  never  forget  that  whatever  her  boasted 
authority  may  be,  it  is  as  nothing  compared  to  that  of  the 
Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ.' 

"I  thank  God  that  my  coming  here  has  forced  Rome  to  take 


Visit  to   Robert  Town  377 

away  her  mask  and  show  her  horns.  How  many  among  you, 
before  these  last  few  days,  were  sincerely  and  so  earnestly  be- 
lieving that  the  priests,  the  Bishop,  and  the  people  of  Rome 
were  a  law-abiding  people;  that  the  oaths  they  had  made  to 
obey  the  Queen  were  the  oaths  of  honest  Christians,  real 
gentlemen  and  true  patriots.  But  to=day  you  have  read  with 
your  eyes,  and  heard  with  your  own  ears,  that  one  of  the  great- 
est crimes  which  can  be  committed  against  the  laws  of  the 
Queen  of  England,  is  not  a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Bishop,  when  it  is  committed  to  destroy  liberty  of 
speech  and  conscience.  The  very  men  who  have  forcibly 
broken  the  doors  of  your  house  with  the  avowed  intention  to 
slaughter  you  and  me,  if  we  would  dare  to  enjoy  the  most 
sacred  rights  of  a  British  subject — the  right  of  conscience  and 
speech — have  been  publicly  approved  and  publicly  told  that 
it  was  their  right  to  do  it. 

"Protestants  of  Hobert  Town  and  Tasmania,  what  have  you 
to  do  now?  Your  eyes  are  opened;  you  know  that  by  'lib- 
erty of  conscience'  Rome  means  that  she  has  a  right  to  cut 
your  throat  and  blow  out  your  brains  if  you  do  not  ask  her 
permission  about  the  orators  you  want  to  hear  and  the  sub- 
jects you  want  to  have  discussed  in  your  presence. 

"Shall  I  advise  you  to  retaliate  and  petition  England  to 
withdraw  the  Emancipation  Bill,  and  put  again  the  chains  of 
slavery  around  the  necks  of  those  poor  deluded  men?  No: 
let  them  be  free  to  worship  their  wafer==christ  and  to  pros- 
trate themselves  before  those  gods  made  with  their  own 
hands;  let  them  continue  to  go  to  confession  and  listen  to 
the  damning  and  polluting  questions  which  Dens,  Ligori, 
D^breyne  and  all  the  theologians  of  Rome  force  the  confes- 
sor to  put  to  his  male  and  female  penitents;  let  the  Roman 
Catholics  be  free  as  the  birds  of  the  air  in  the  practise  of 
their  religion.  But  after  you  will  have  told  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics, '  You  are  free  to  worship  God  according  to  your  con- 
science,' tell  them:  'You  will  not  rule  our  dear  and  beautiful 
Tasmania.     It  is  not  the  Pope,  but  it  is  our  gracious  Queen 


37^  Korty   Years   in   the    Church   of  Christ 

who  will  f^overn  us.  It  is  not  the  Holy  Inquisition,  but  the 
glorious  British  flag  which  will  forever  float  to  the  breeze 
over  the  sublime  mountains  and  the  magnificent  valleys  of 
Tasmania.' 

"  Read  your  Bible  and  you  will  see  that  the  greatest  crime 
a  nation  can  commit  is  idolatry.  See  how  God  visits  the  idola- 
tors  in  His  terrible  justice.  What  a  difference  between  a 
Christian  country  and  an  idolatrous  one!  how  weak,  poor, 
wretched  the  latter  looks  when  compared  with  the  former! 
How  the  power  of  an  idolatrous  peojjle  melts  like  snow  be- 
fore the  burning  rays  of  the  sun,  when  coming  in  contact 
with  a  Christian  one!  But  what  is  Roman  Catholicism?  Our 
great  and  glorious  Queen  (may  God  bless  and  keep  her  many 
years  more  at  the  head  of  Great  Britain),  our  glorious  Queen 
Victoria  herself  answers  my  question  by  telling  us  that,  be- 
fore she  put  on  her  royal  head  the  most  glorious  crown  in  the 
world,  she  swore  that  Romanism  is  'idolatry,'  and  our  glori- 
ous Queen  Victoria  is  not  a  perjured  queen.  No:  the  words 
which  fell  from  her  lips  on  the  solemn  hour  of  her  corona- 
tion rolled  over  all  the  mountains  and  plains  of  her  vast  em- 
pire; they  crossed  the  boundless  oceans  over  which  her  glo- 
rious flag  floats  without  a  rival  to  deny  its  untarnished  glory, 
or  contest  its  irresistible  power.  The  words  of  our  glorious 
Queen  Victoria,  when  she  swore  that  the  mass  of  Rome  is 
'  idolatry,'  were  repeated  by  all  the  echoes  of  heaven  and 
earth. 

"  Rome  is  not  only  idolatrous,  but  her  idolatry  is  the  most 
degrading,  impious  and  damning  mode  of  idolatry  the  world 
has  ever  seen. 

"When  the  Persians  adore  the  rising  sun,  they  give  their 
homage  to  the  most  glorious  object  that  is  presented  to  our 
human  vision.  That  magnificent  orb,  which  rises  like  a  giant 
every  morning  from  behind  the  horizon,  to  pass  over  the 
world  and  pour  everywhere  his  floods  of  heat,  life  and  light, 
cannot  be  contemplated  without  feelings  of  awe  and  admira- 
tion.    Man  must  raise  his  eyes  to  see  that  glorious  sun,  he 


Visit  to   Hobert  Town  379 

must  take  the  eagle's  wings  to  follow  his  giant  march  through- 
out the  myriads  of  worlds  which  surround  him  as  a  king.  It 
is  easy  to  understand  that  poor,  fallen  and  blind  humanity 
may  take  that  glorious  object  for  God.  And  when  I  see  the 
Persian  priests  of  the  sun  in  their  magnificent  temples,  wait- 
ing with  their  gold  censers  in  hand  for  the  appearance  of 
his  rays,  to  chant  their  melodious  hymns  and  sing  their  sub- 
lime canticles  to  his  glory,  I  know  their  error,  but  I  under- 
stand it;  I  was  going  to  say  that  I  can  almost  excuse  it.  I 
feel  an  immense  compassion  for  those  poor  deluded  idolaters, 
but  at  the  same  time  I  feel  that  they  are  raised  above  the 
dust  of  this  earth,  and  that  their  minds  can  be  filled  with 
sentiments  of  gratitude  and  adoration.  Their  souls  cannot 
but  receive  some  sparks  of  light  and  life  from  the  inexhaust- 
ible focus  of  light  and  life.  But  the  poor  deluded  Roman 
Catholics!  are  they  not  a  thousand  times  more  worthy  of  our 
compassion  when  we  see  them  abjectly  prostrated  before  this 
small  'wafer=god,'  baked  by  a  servant  girl  between  two  well 
heated  irons  in  her  kitchen?  It  is  imjiossible  to  see  a  spec- 
tacle more  ignominious  and  lamentable  than  a  multitude  of 
men  and  women  prostrating  their  faces  to  the  dust  to  adore 
a  god  that  the  rats  and  mice  have  many  times  dragged  and 
devoured  in  their  dark  recesses!  Where  are  the  rays  of  light 
and  life  from  this  contemptible  little  cake?  Instead  of  being 
enlarged  and  elevated  in  the  presence  of  that  ridiculous 
modern  divinity,  is  not  the  human  intelligence  paralyzed  and 
struck  with  idiocy  and  death  at  its  feet? 

"There  is  great  danger  for  England  from  that  idolatry. 
For  it  is  of  no  use  to  shut  your  eyes  to  the  truth.  England, 
which  had  evidently  been  chosen  by  God  to  put  down  the 
idols  of  Rome,  is  everywhere  not  only  relieving  them,  but 
she  helps  with  her  own  money  to  spread  and  support  their 
impious  worship.  She  raises  the  colleges  and  universities 
where  the  priests  of  Rome  learn  how  to  preach  and  perpetuate 
their  idolatrous  religion. 

"  How  God  Almighty  blessed  England  and  made  her  great 


380  Korty    Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

and  glorious  when  she  cast  off  the  yoke  of  Rome  and  demol- 
ished her  idolatry,  and  kept  herself  pure  from  her  idols!  But 
how  the  same  God  will  quickly  withdraw  His  protecting  arm 
from  England,  and  let  her  lose  her  past  glory,  if  she  pros- 
trates herself  again  at  the  feet  of  the  idols  of  the  Pope! 

"  Who  does  not  feel  his  heart  saddened  at  the  awful  apos- 
tasy of  so  many  ministers  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Eng- 
land, who  have  lately  deserted  the  standard  of  Christ,  and 
passed  over  to  the  camp  of  the  enemy?  But  who  is  not 
still  more  saddened  by  the  perfidy  of  a  still  greater  number 
of  disguised  Jesuits,  who,  under  the  name  of  Episcopal  min- 
isters and  bishops  of  the  Church  of  England,  are  at  work  to 
destroy  her  by  introducing  one  after  the  other  the  idolatries  of 
Rome  into  the  temples  of  God? 

"  But  no!  our  dear  Great  Britain  will  never  bend  again 
her  knees  before  the  idols  of  Rome;  she  will  never  bow  down 
again  her  noble  head  to  the  feet  of  the  great  impostor  who  is 
insulting  God  on  the  crumbling  throne  of  the  Vatican.  Let 
us  hope  and  pray  that  all  over  the  world  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  England  will  rally  with  more  fervour  than  ever  around 
the  banners  of  Christ,  in  order  to  go  to  the  conquest  of  the 
world.  Let  every  Protestant  from  the  northern  shores  of  old 
England  and  dear  Scotland,  to  the  beautiful  southern  hem- 
isphere which  vou  have  chosen  for  your  home,  remember  the 
tears  and  the  blood  shed  by  their  ancestors  to  break  the  hu- 
miliating yoke  of  Popery,  and  conquer  the  glorious  liberty 
and  privileges  which  have  made  them  the  first  nation  of  the 
world,  .  .  .  However,  when  I  ask  you  in  the  name  of 
your  heroic  ancestors  to  remain  true  to  the  flag  on  which  they 
wrote  with  their  blood,  'No  surrender,'  I  adjure  you  to  re- 
member that  you  have  a  duty  to  perform  towards  the  Roman 
Catholics.  It  is  to  love  them  and  to  prove  that  love  in  doing 
all  in  your  power  to  show  them  the  fatal  errors  which  make 
them  the  abject  slaves  of  men.  Show  your  love  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  by  telling  them  the  truth,  bravely,  incessantly,  every 
time  the  good  providence  of  God   will    allow   you   to  do   it. 


Visit  to   Hobert  Town  381 

Not  only  pray  for  them  constantly,  but  do  all  in  your  power 
to  partake  with  them  the  pure  bread  of  the  children  of  God, 
the  Word  which  gives  joy  and  life  to  those  who  j)ossess 
it,  give  them  the  waters  which  flow  from  the  fountains 
of  eternal  life,  and  which  are  so  sweet  to  those  who  drink 
them. 

In  order  that  my  Christian  readers  may  understand  how 
Roman  Catholics  understand  liberty  of  conscience  and  of 
speech,  I  will  give  them  an  illustration.  On  the  second  night, 
as  has  been  stated  before,  the  lecture  could  not  be  given  in 
the  Town  Hall  on  account  of  the  rioting.  This  is  a  specimen 
of  some  of  the  dramatic  scenes  which  occurred  during  my 
visit  at  Hobert  Town,  as  reported  in  the  press  of  that  city: 

"The  Town  Hall  was  the  arena  of  an  extraordinary  and  dis- 
graceful scene.  It  was  given  over  to  uproar  and  riot.  Pas- 
tor Chiniquy  was  silenced  by  brute  force  by  an  organized 
mob  of  Roman  Catholics.  The  storm  might  have  been  brew- 
ing from  the  time  the  doors  of  the  hall  were  opened.  Num- 
bers of  rough=looking  characters,  armed  with  sticks,  entered 
early  and  formed  a  compact  body  in  the  back  of  the  hall. 
But  there  was  deceitful  calm.  The  audience  was  as  quiet  as 
a  Sunday  congregation.  The  Pastor,  who  was  advertised  to 
lecture  on  'Rome,  and  Liberty  of  Conscience,'  occupied  the 
platform,  supported  by  the  Revs.  J.  Cope,  B.  Butchers,  J.  Scott 
and  Webster. 

"There  was  hushed  silence  till  Mr.  Webster  rose  to  propose 
that  the  chair  should  be  taken  by  the  Rev.  J.  Cope.  This 
was  the  prelude  to  lawless  fury.  At  once  there  rose  a  deep, 
tempestuous  swell  like  the  bursting  of  a  thunderstorm.  There 
was  no  mistaking  its  tone;  it  was  that  of  a  roused  and  wrath- 
ful passion.  Yells,  groans,  loud  expletives,  hisses  and  fierce 
shouts  rent  the  air,  accompanied  by  a  deafening  clatter  of 
sticks  and  boot  heels,  drowning  every  attempt  at  proceeding 
with  the  object  of  the  meeting.  There  was  immediately  a 
scene  of  wildest  confusion.  The  greater  part  of  the  hall  was 
filled  with  a  respectable  audience,  partly  women,   who   were 


382  l^orty   Years    in   the   Church   of  Christ 

terrified  at  these  demonstrations  of  violence.  All  started  to 
their  feet.  The  ladies  rushed  toward  the  platform  as  if  to 
seek  safety  there;  the  cushioned  crimson  seats  were  trampled 
under  muddy  feet;  the  clergy  besought  order  from  the  police, 
of  whom  there  were  at  first  five  or  six,  gathered  round  the 
rioters,  and  tried,  but  in  the  mildest  manner,  to  quell  the  dis- 
turbance, but  in  vain.  The  clangour  sounded  louder,  hoarser, 
with  all  attempts  to  subdue  it.  Volleys  of  epithets  were 
showered  upon  the  Pastor,  to  the  rallying  cry,  'Tally  ho! 
Tally  ho!'  which  resounded  from  the  lusty  throat  of  a  stout 
and  elderly  Irishman.  The  disturbers  would  not  be  quieted. 
All  appeals  from  the  platform  were  met  with  derisive  cheers. 
The  Rev.  Mr,  Webster  asked  for  fair  play  in  vain;  hoots 
and  loud  cries  were  the  only  response.  The  police  were 
inactive.  The  supporters  of  the  meeting  were  indignant. 
'Why  don't  the  police  do  their  duty?'  'Send  for  more 
police;'  'arrest  them;'  were  the  cries  heard  from  all  sides. 
The  Rev.  B.  Butchers,  Mr.  Russell  Young,  and  C.  D. 
Haywood,  went  into  the  midst  of  the  peace  disturbers 
to  try  and  induce  them  to  stay  their  clamour.  They  might 
as  well  have  tried  to  hold  back  the  billows  of  the  ocean.  The 
whooping  chorus  grew  the  louder.  The  blood  of  the  disturb- 
ers was  hot  and  unappeasable.  A  disputation,  a  push,  and 
blows  were  struck;  a  melSe  ensued;  combatants  and  police 
interlocked  in  confusion — a  struggling,  surging  mass,  grap- 
pling and  fighting  among  the  forms  in  the  body  of  the  hall. 
It  was  a  critical  monent;  a  general  frdcas  was  imminent. 
The  Pastor  sought  shelter  near  the  organ  seat.  No  arrests 
were  made,  and,  by  the  intervention  of  some  civilians  aiding 
the  police,  a  momentary  lull  ensued;  then  an  attempt  was 
made  to  go  on  with  the  meeting.  The  rabble  drowned  all 
sounds  in  a  tempest  of  malignant  cries  of,  '  Turn  him  out,' 
'  Three  groans  for  the  apostate  priest,'  '  Three  cheers  for  the 
kicked-out  priest,'  and  unrestrained  opprobrious  and  coarse 
abuse.  From  time  to  time  the  ministers  begged  a  fair  hearing. 
'Truth,'  they  said,  'would  not  suffer  from  speech;  let  Pastor 


Visit  to    Robert  Town  383 

Chiniquy  be  heard;  those  who  disagreed  with  him  might  leave 
the  hall.'  But  the  turbulent  rioters  would  not  leave.  Drawing 
breaths  at  intervals,  their  ferocity  was  not  to  be  turned  aside, 
and  delusive  moments  of  quiet  were  followed  by  a  still  more 
tumultuous  outbreak  of  passion.  In  the  midst  of  this  mob, 
a  rumour  went  round  that  the  Mayor  was  coming;  the  word 
passed  that  he  had  been  sent  for,  and  it  was  hoped  that  he 
would  be  able  to  restore  something  like  order.  But  he  did 
not  come;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Webster  made  another  effort  to 
carry  on  the  meeting.  He  begged  the  people  to  be  seated.  He 
said  the  meeting  must  be  carried  on,  and  he  asked  the  police 
(who  had,  by  this  time,  been  reinforced)  to  do  their  duty. 
Shouts  of  defiance  from  the  rioters  greeted  him.  They  had, 
they  said,  paid  for  the  hall,  and  it  was  an  insult  to  allow  the 
Pastor  to  speak  there;  they  would  not  allow  him;  they  would 
hear  anyone  but  him.  'Then,'  said  Mr.  Webster,  'we  will 
sing  a  hymn.'  The  mob  then  commenced  singing,  '  God  save 
the  Queen'  in  bantering  style  and  tune,  but  all  was  quiet  when 
the  respectable  portion  of  the  audience  began  singing,  'There 
is  a  Fountain  Filled  with  Blood,'  which  was  given  out  by 
Mr.  Webster.  The  reverend  gentleman  asked  once  more 
that  the  Pastor  should  be  allowed  to  be  heard.  A  voice:  '  If 
he  does  not  say  anything  offensive.'  Mr.  Butchers:  'Who  is 
to  be  the  judge  of  that?'  Mr.  Webster  said  he  would  take  care 
that  nothing  offensive  was  said;  there  was  no  fear  of  that. 
A  voice:  '  We  were  insulted  last  night.'  Mr.  Webster  said  he 
had  heard  the  Pastor's  address,  and  there  was  not  a  word  in 
it  to  which  exception  could  be  taken.  (Derisive  cries,  and 
'No,  no.')  Mr.  Webster  appealed  for  fair  play.  A  voice: 
'  Any  other  gentleman  but  Chiniquy.'  Mr.  McPherson  (who 
was  on  the  platform)  vehemently:  '  Why  don't  the  police  do 
their  duty?  they  are  paid  for  it  by  the  public.  Why  don't 
you  take  Fay  in  charge? '  (Fay,  the  jaerson  alluded  to,  had 
been  a  prominent  disturber  throughout.)  Mr.  Webster:  'No, 
no.  We  don't  want  any  one  taken  in  charge.  You  are  an 
English  audience.     As  such  you  must  love  fair  play.     Give 


384  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

the  Pastor  fair  play;  let  us  hear  his  address.'  (Uproar.)  A 
voice:  '  He  is  defamiii<i^  our  religion;  he  is  insulting  us.'  Mr. 
Webster  said  he  would  be  the  very  last  one  to  listen  to  an  in- 
sult; he  would  be  the  first  person  to  protest  against  it.  But 
he  would  hear  every  man.  He  would  listen  with  great  de- 
light to  Cardinal  Newman,  for  example,  if  he  were  to  come 
there  to  speak.  A  voice:  '  He  does  not  attack  your  religion.' 
(Cheers.)  A  voice:  'What  is  one  man's  food,  is  another 
man's  poison.'  (Cheers  and  laughter.)  '  We  will  listen  to  you 
all  night,  Mr.  Webster,  but  not  to  the  Pastor.' "  And  so  on, 
till  the  meeting  was  dismissed,  as  stated  before. 

The  other  few  days  of  my  stay  in  Hobert  Town  were  de- 
voted to  sight=seeing  and  to  the  organization  of  a  Protestant 
association  whose  object  was  the  defense  and  fostering 
of  Protestantism.  I  visited  all  the  points  of  interest  about  the 
city  with  the  greatest  delight  and  admiration,  and  on  the 
Saturday  afternoon  of  that  eventful  week,  I  left  by  the  steamer 
Tasman  en  route  for  New  South  Wales  and  Queensland. 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

Ballarat  and  Horsham.    Riots— Narrow  Escapes.    A  Woman  Spits  in  My 
Face  to  Obey  Her  Father  Confessor.    The  Muddy  Ditch 

Ballarat  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  thriving  cities 
of  New  South  Wales,  situated  in  a  very  rich  and  beautiful 
plain,  where  an  enormous  amount  of  gold  has  been  found. 
The  population,  when  I  was  providentially  called  to  spend 
three  weeks  of  evangelistic  labour  among  its  people,  was 
about  35,000. 

Unfortunately  the  Roman  Catholic  population  was  very 
strong,  composed,  as  it  is  in  too  many  places,  largely  of  drunk- 
ards, thieves  and  murderers.  The  goal  was  filled  almost  ex- 
clusively with  them,  and  they  had  furnished  a  great  number 
to  the  penitentiary. 

As  soon  as  they  heard  of  my  going  to  their  city,  they  deter- 
mined, as  they  have  done  in  so  many  other  places,  to  pre- 
vent me  from  addressing  the  people,  even  if  they  had  to  mur- 
der me. 

But,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  the  intelligent  and  Chris- 
tian Orangemen  of  the  city  knew  all  their  plans,  and  they 
were  determined,  at  any  cost,  to  defeat  them. 

My  greatest  difficulty,  on  my  arrival,  was  to  find  a  house  to 
dwell  in.  The  rumor  was  spread  that  that  house  would  surely 
be  destroyed  by  the  slaves  of  the  Pope. 

At  last,  a  respectable  widow,  who  was  living  honourably  by 
keeping  boarders,  offered  me  her  best  room  and  I  accepted  it. 
But  my  trunk  had  hardly  been  placed  in  the  house,  when  a 
multitude  oi  furious  men  surrounded  it,  pulled  down  the 
doors  and  broke  the  windows. 

This  was  done  whilst  I  was  delivering  my  first  lecture. 

My  first  words  to  my  friends  after  the  lecture  were,  "  Have 

385 


386  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  ot*  Christ 

you  saved  my  trunks?"  They  answered,  "  Yes,  sir,  they  are 
all  safe  in  the  hands  of  a  friend." 

"  Have  you  selected  another  house  wliere  I  can  be  lodged 
without  any  more  trouble?"  I  asked. 

"Not  yet,  sir;  but  this  will  soon  be  done.  But  come  and 
take  some  refreshments  at  a  friend's  house  and  then  we  will 
see  where  you  can  spend  the  night  and  the  rest  of  your  time 
among  us,  without  any  danger  to  your  life,  if  not  absolutely 
in  peace;  for  you  see  the  war  is  begun  by  the  priests;  it  will 
be  a  war  to  the  knife.  But  we  are  a  match  for  them;  if  th^y 
want  blood  they  will  have  it  to  their  hearts'  content.  We 
cannot  consent  to  be  their  slaves  in  our  own  dear  city  of  Bal- 
larat." 

We  had  not  proceeded  far  when  furious  cries  were  filling 
the  air  all  around  us.  Multitudes,  armed  with  sticks  and 
stones,  were  issuing  from  every  side  street  to  surround  us. 

"  Boys,"  cried  a  loud  voice  near  me,  "  be  calm  and  steady.  If 
you  have  to  strike,  see  that  every  blow  leaves  its  mark.  Do  not 
begin  the  fight,  but  let  them  begin  it  at  their  risk  and  peril." 

Had  I  not  seen  that  spectacle  many  times  before,  it  would 
have  been  enough  to  fill  me  with  terror.  But  I  had  seen  that 
in  Quebec,  Montreal,  Ottawa,  Charlottetown,  Many  times  I 
had  had  the  opportunity  of  witnessing  the  heroic  courage  and 
the  admirable  intelligence  and  sang=froid  of  the  Orangemen 
in  presence  of  danger.  And  I  knew  my  God  was  by  me;  I 
felt  that  His  mighty  and  merciful  hand  would  protect  us  all. 

In  that  very  moment,  on  our  left,  a  numerous  band  of  Irish- 
men, filling  the  air  with  cries  of  fury,  rushed  at  us.  At 
their  head,  a  tall  woman,  brandishing  a  stick,  ran  towards  me 
with  the  evident  intention  of  striking  me,  but  a  terrible  blow, 
struck  on  her  face  with  a  hard  stick  by  my  nearest  Orange 
friend,  brought  her  down  on  the  pavement  of  stone. 

It  was  a  horrible  sight  to  see  that  miserable  woman,  evi- 
dently half  drunk,  with  her  hair  s^jread  in  the  dust  and  her 
face  awfully  wounded  and  bleeding.  She  was  crying  like  a 
wild  beast,  "  Murder!    Murder!" 


Ballarat  and   Horsham  387 

At  that  very  moment  my  nearest  friend  whispered: 

"  My  dear  Father  Chiniquy,  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  terrible 
and  bloody  encounter.  Please  do  not  remain  here.  There  is 
too  much  danger  for  your  life.  Follow  me  through  this  nar- 
row alley;  my  home  is  at  the  end  of  it.  In  the  present  tumult 
nobody  will  see  us  going  that  way.  You  will  spend  the  night 
in  a  secret  room  where  you  will  be  absolutely  safe  from  any 
danger,  so  long  as  there  is  a  drop  of  blood  in  my  veins." 

Without  losing  a  single  moment,  I  followed  him  through 
that  narrow  and  dark  alley,  and  I  found  everything  as  my 
kind,  noble- hearted  friend  had  promised  me. 

The  next  morning  the  city  was  filled  with  the  noise  of  that 
terrible  riot.  Nobody  was  killed,  but  there  were  many  broken 
noses  and  black  eyes. 

The  rumor,  at  first,  was  that  I  had  been  killed,  but  they  soon 
learned  that  I  was  safe  in  the  house  of  a  popular  and  worthy 
Presbyterian  minister  of  the  Gospel,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Quick. 

At  first,  the  ministers  of  the  city  had  determined  to  ignore 
me  during  my  evangelistic  work  in  their  city,  on  account  of 
the  evident  and  terrible  dangers  which  would  accompany  me 
wherever  I  might  lodge. 

But  the  wife  of  that  worthy  minister  of  Christ  had  told  him 
at  breakfast,  "  It  is  a  burning  shame  to  let  Father  Chiniquy 
expose  his  life  in  helping  us  to  confound  and  fight  the  great- 
est enemy  of  the  Gospel.  We  ought  to  give  him  a  shelter 
under  our  Christian  roof.  Please  go  and  ask  him  to  come 
and  spend  the  whole  time  he  will  be  in  Ballarat,  with  us." 

That  noble  Christian  lady  came  nearly  paying  with  her  life 
for  her  charity  tovvards  me. 

That  same  evening,  a  moment  after  my  coming  back  from 
lecturing,  she  was  standing  by  the  window,  when  her  husband 
remarked  that  that  was  a  dangerous  place.  "  My  dear,"  said 
he,  "  so  long  as  Father  Chiniquy  is  our  guest,  do  not  stand 
at  night  before  the  windows,  for  a  pistol  shot  or  a  stone  can 
come  to  show  your  imprudence." 

Strange  to  say,  she  had  hardly  left  the  window  to  sit  in  a 


388  Fortv   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

Bafe  place,  when  a  volley  of  big  stones  went  through  that  win- 
dow, broke  every  part  of  it,  crossed  the  room  and  smashed 
into  fragments  a  mirror  at  the  other  end  of  the  parlour. 

It  would  be  too  long  and  tedious  to  give  the  details  of  that 
mission  in  Ballarat.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  was  blessed  by 
fifty  Roman  Catholics  who  left  their  Pope  to  follow  Christ. 

I  must  not,  however,  omit  saying  that  all  our  meetings  were 
attended  with  more  or  less  troubles  of  a  dangerous  character, 
and  that  the  Orangemen  put  a  guard  of  twelve  fearless  men  to 
protect  us  every  night. 

But  I  cannot  omit  to  mention  a  striking  act  of  the  priests 
of  Rome  against  us. 

The  day  I  left,  I  learned,  when  at  the  railway  station,  that 
the  trains  were  half  an  hour  behind  time. 

When  patiently  waiting  in  the  midst  of  many  friends  who 
had  accompanied  me  to  give  me  their  last  farewell,  I  saw  a 
tall  lady,  splendidly  dressed,  advancing  towards  me  at  a  double* 
quick  pace. 

My  first  thought  was  to  move  a  little  to  the  left  side  and 
let  her  pass,  but  she  turned  with  me,  and  she  was  soon  face 
to  face  with  me.  I  thought  she  was  a  half  crazy  woman  who 
wanted  to  kiss  me.     I  felt  ashamed  and  made  a  back  step. 

But  she  soon  filled  the  distance  I  had  put  between  her  and 
me.  Quicker  than  I  can  write  these  lines,  she  was  again  face 
to  face  with  me. 

Then,  without  giving  me  time  to  make  a  new  back  step,  she 
threw  from  her  mouth  an  immense  quantity  of  dirt  and  spat 
it  in  my  face. 

I  felt  absolutely  blinded,  my  eyes  were  utterly  filled,  and  my 
face  was  comj^letely  covered  with  dirt. 

In  a  moment  she  disappeared,  running  full  speed. 

The  reader  may  imagine  the  surprise  and  indignation  of 
my  numerous  friends  at  such  a  public  and  daring  insult. 
Some  of  them  went  to  get  some  fresh  water  and  a  towel  to 
wash  and  cleanse  my  face,  while  other  friends,  witii  a  police- 
man, were  running  after  the  strange  woman. 


Ballarat  and  Horsham  389 

Ten  minutes  later  my  face  was  cleansed,  but  my  eyes  were 
very  dim.  However,  I  could  see  enough  to  observe  the  indig- 
nation of  the  crowd. 

The  tall  lady,  trembling  and  pale  as  death,  was  standing  by 
me,  in  the  midst  of  the  multitude  by  whom  I  was  surrounded. 

My  secretary  told  me:  "Here  is  the  miserable  woman 
who  has  just  now  so  cruelly  insulted  you.  What  do  you  wish 
us  to  do  with  her?" 

Looking  at  her,  I  said:  "  Is  it  not  your  Father  Confessoi 
who  ordered  you  to  do  that  action?" 

With  trembling  voice  she  answered:  "Yes,  sir.  It  was 
my  Father  Confessor  who  ordered  me  to  do  that." 

Then  looking  to  the  people  by  whom  I  was  surrounded,  I 
said: 

"  Did  our  Saviour  order  those  who  spat  in  His  face  to 
be  punished?  No.  But  He  forgave  them,  so  I  do  not  wish 
this  woman  to  be  punished.     Let  her  go  back  home  in  peace." 

I  forgave  her  what  she  had  done  me. 

A  few  minutes  later  I  departed  on  the  next  train. 

After  a  few  days  of  evangelistic  labour  in  some  of  the  thriv- 
ing towns  and  villages  around  Ballarat,  the  good  Mr.  Cameron, 
of  Horsham,  persuaded  me  to  go  and  spend  a  couple  of  days 
in  his  interesting  town  about  one  hundred  miles  distant. 

All  along  the  way  I  had  again  to  admire  the  vast  and  so 
well  cultivated  fields,  the  splendid  cattle,  many  thousands  of 
sheep,  waiting  for  the  scissors  of  the  shearers  or  the  cruel 
knife  of  the  butcher. 

The  splendid  cottage  of  Mr.  Cameron  was  fitted  with  all 
that  good  taste  and  wealth  could  offer  to  make  a  home  pleasant 
and  healthful.  I  really  felt  delighted  when  receiving  the  noble 
hospitality  of  that  gentleman  and  his  accomplished  lady  in 
that  distant  land.  He  took  me  at  night  to  the  church  where  I 
was  to  deliver  my  lecture.  The  distance  was  not  more  than 
two  miles. 

When  on  the  way  he  told  me,  "  We  have  nothing  to  fear, 
here,  this  evening  from  the  Roman  Catholics.     Their  village 


390  Forty    Years  in   the   Church   ot  Christ 

is  more  than  five  miles  distant  from  ours.  Thej^  surely  will 
not  travel  such  a  long  distance  to  trouble  us,  and  the  few  who 
live  with  us  have  always  been  peaceful.'' 

"  You  must  not  rely  too  much  on  those  circumstances  to 
hope  for  peace  this  night,"  I  answered  him.  "The  Irish 
Roman  Catholics,  like  the  wolves  of  the  prairies,  can  travel 
more  than  five  miles  to  quench  their  thirst  for  mischief  and 
blood.  Though  naturally  good,  intelligent,  brave,  hospitable 
and  religious,  they  are  turned  into  wild  beasts  by  their  monks 
and  priests,  not  only  in  Ireland,  but  everywhere  they  go.  Let 
us  pray  God  to  protect  us  this  night,  if  your  good  minister 
and  his  people  have  done  nothing  to  prevent  the  Irish  from 
giving  us  new  tokens  of  their  cruel  fanaticism.  For  such  wild 
beasts,  half  drunk,  it  would  not  take  much  time  to  travel  five 
or  six  miles  to  disturb  our  meeting  if  it  is  their  priest's  mind 
to  do  it." 

My  address  was  not  yet  finished  when  a  volley  of  stones  broke 
all  the  windows,  struck  me  and  many  of  my  hearers. 

Let  the  reader  understand  the  horror  of  our  situation 
when  I  tell  him  that,  relying  on  the  distance  of  the  Irish 
village,  not  a  single  one  had  taken  any  weapon,  not  even  a 
cane,  to  comfort  and  protect  himself.  We  were  absolutely 
in  their  hands  and  at  their  mercy,  for  they  were  evidently 
all  armed  with  stones,  sticks,  etc. 

Their  usual  furious  and  beastly  cries  were  filling  the  air. 
"Kill  him!  Kill  him!"  was  heard  from  all  sides  around 
the  church.  Inside  the  church  the  cries  of  the  ladies  and 
the  supplications  of  many  Protestants  were  the  sad  and  only 
music  in  my  ears,  after  my  address. 

Mr.  Cameron  came  to  me  and  whispered  in  my  ear:  "  Do 
not  go  out  of  the  church,  for  they  are  watching  you,  and 
they  will  surely  kill  you  if  they  find  an  opportunity.  The 
only  way  to  escajje  I  see  is  in  a  secret  back  door,  of  which, 
providentially,  I  have  the  key  with  me.  They  know  nothing 
about  that  door.  Go  through  it  and  walk  straight  on  till  you 
find  a  large  and  deep  ditch,  usually  half  filled  with  mud  and 


Ballarat  and   Horsham  391 

water.  When  there,  walk  the  best  you  can  towards  your  left. 
Keep  your  head  down  as  much  as  possible,  for  though  it 
is  very  dark,  they  might  see  you  when  they  will  cross  the 
ditch  in  search  of  you.  Walk  nearly  half  a  mile  in  that  ditch, 
and  then  you  will  meet  me  with  my  carriage.  I  will  be  there 
in  the  dark,  with  Mrs.  Cameron,  waiting  for  you,  and  I  hope 
by  the  mercy  of  God  I  will  take  you  safely  to  my  home." 

A  few  minutes  later  I  was  in  that  ditch,  which  I  shall  never 
forget,  though  I  might  live  a  thousand  years.  I  found  it 
deeper  and  filled  with  more  water  than  I  had  expected.  In 
many  places  I  had  to  crawl  on  my  hands  and  knees  in  order 
not  to  be  seen,  for  I  was  constantly  hearing  voices  saying: 
"Where  is  he?  Where  is  he?"  when  my  would=be  mur- 
derers were  jumping  over  it  some  times  at  a  very  short  dis- 
tance from  me. 

Though  I  had  hardly  a  mile  to  walk,  or  rather  crawl,  I 
found  the  way  very  long  and  exhausting.  I  was  absolutely 
out  of  breath  when  I  found  myself  at  the  end  of  it.  I  surely 
looked  more  like  a  frog  than  a  man  when  they  helped  me  to 
my  seat  in  the  carriage. 

But  we  were  not  yet  at  the  end  of  our  journey.  How  can 
I  tell  you  what  our  feelings  were  when  we  found  that  during 
our  absence  the  beautiful  and  richly  funished  cottage  had 
been  visited  by  my  would=be  murderers?  When  those  faith- 
ful servants  of  the  Pope  had  found  that  we  were  not  there, 
and  could  not  kill  us,  they  had  destroyed  everything  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on.  The  rich  and  beautiful  piano  was 
destroyed,  the  fine  glasses  on  the  walls,  and  the  chairs  and  sofas 
were  broken  into  fragments.  They  did  not  set  fire  to  the 
house  only  for  fear  that  the  light  would  make  them  known 
when  moving  away  from  the  spot. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI 

Abbe  Fluet's  Conversion,  Temptation  and  Final  Triumphs. 

The  10th  of  July,  1881,  I  received  the  following  letter: — 

"  Sandwich. 
"Dear  Mr.  Chiniquy: — 

"  My  dear  father  is  very  sick.  He  has  not  many  days  to  live. 
He  wants  you  to  be  by  his  side  in  these  solemn  days  to  help 
him  to  prepare  himself  to  die,  as  he  has  lived,  a  true  Chris- 
tian. 

"  Please  grant  us  that  favour. 
"Respectfully  yours, 

"(Signed)  Mary  Williams, 
"  n6e  Fluet." 

The  reader  will  ask  me,  "  Who  is  that  Fluet  who  wants 
you  by  his  bedside  when  at  his  last  hour  of  life?" 

My  regret,  when  answering  that  question  is  that  I  have 
only  a  short  chapter  to  offer,  when  I  could  write  such  an 
interesting  volume  on  that  remarkable  man,  the  first  French 
Canadian  Roman  Catholic  priest  whom  I  have  known  brave 
enough  to  throw  off  the  heavy  and  ignominious  yoke  of  the 
Pope  to  follow  Christ. 

In  the  year  1831,  when  a  professor  of  belles  lettres  in  the 
college  of  Nicolet,  the  director,  Rev.  I.  Leprohon,  used  very 
often  to  show  his  friendly  feelings  in  sitting  by  me  during  the 
hours  of  recreation,  under  the  shadows  of  the  giant  pino  trees, 
which  made  an  earthly  paradise  of  that  never4o=be  forgotten 
spot. 

That  venerable  man  was  my  benefactor.  I  loved  him  as  a 
father  and  I  venerated  him  as  a  saint. 

Though  many  times  he  expressed  his  desire  that  I  should 
become  his  successor  as  director  of  that  college,  I  refused  to 

392 


Abbe   Fluet's   Conversion  393 

consent.  The  principal  object  of  his  conversations  was  to 
initiate  me  into  the  numerous  little  mysteries,  difficulties  and 
responsibilities  of  his  position.  He  was  often  speaking  of 
the  difficult  art  of  knowing  the  characters  of  the  men  by  whom 
we  are  surrounded,  in  order  to  become  a  source  of  blessing 
and  usefulness  to  them. 

This  caused  me  one  day  to  put  him  the  following  ques- 
tion: 

"  As  you  have  been  the  director  of  this  college  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  you  have  had  to  deal  with  a  great  number 
of  professors;  is  it  an  indiscretion  to  ask  you  whom  you  con- 
sider the  best  among  the  many  ecclesiastics  and  professors  who 
have  laboured  under  you  while  the  director  of  the  college  at 
Nicolet?" 

He  answered  me:  "  Your  question  is  a  very  delicate  one, 
and  the  answer  you  want  is  still  more  delicate  and  difficult 
Give  me  twenty*four  hours  to  think  and  I  will  answer  you." 

My  curiosity  was  not  a  little  stimulated  by  that  promise. 
I  was  longing  for  the  moment  when  I  would  know  the  name 
of  the  most  worthy  man  who  had  served  as  professor  and 
teacher  in  that  college  of  Nicolet  which  was  so  dear  to  me. 

I  was  not  a  little  pleased,  when,  the  next  day,  I  saw  him 
coming  to  me  with  such  a  smiling  face  that  I  could  see  I  was 
not  to  be  disappointed. 

After  the  most  mature  consideration,  he  said:  "The  best 
professor  and  the  most  perfect  ecclesiastic  I  have  known  in  the 
college  of  Nicolet  is  Mr.  Fluet.  I  have  never  seen  a  man  so 
gifted  with  all  the  virtues  which  make  a  true  Christian  and  a 
perfect  gentleman.  As  you  were  his  most  intimate  friend, 
you  remember  how  he  was  constantly  referring  to  his  New 
Testament  on  almost  every  subject  of  conversation.  The 
name  of  Jesus,  so  often  on  his  lips,  was  the  sure  indication 
that  he  was  keeping  himself  as  perfectly  united  to  our 
Saviour  as  a  man  can  be.  His  knowledge  as  a  theologian 
and  a  philosopher  was  above  everything  I  have  seen  among 
my  acquaintances.    To  those  moral  qualities,  the  good  provi- 


394  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

dence  of  God  has  friven  him  some  of  the  lii^diest  physical 
(jnalities  of  the  ))ody.  He  was  one  of  the  most  handsome  men, 
and  he  had  one  of  the  sweetest  and  most  melodious  voices  I 
have  ever  heard." 

"  I  then  can  answer  your  question  of  yesterday  by  assuring 
you  that  Mr.  Fluet  was  the  most  accomplished  professor  the 
college  of  Nicolet  ever  had.  I  have  not  known  any  one  who 
gained  the  esteem  and  commanded  the  respect  of  all  in  our 
college  as  Fluet  did 

"The  day  he  left  us  to  be  ordained  a  priest  and  go  as  a 
missionary  to  Sandwich,  was  a  day  of  universal  sorrow.  But 
we  consoled  ourselves  of  his  absence  by  the  knowledge  of  the 
good  he  is  doing  in  the  vast  missionary  field  of  the  west  of 
Canada  where  he  is  working  since  he  left  us. 

"The  details  he  gives  me  in  all  his  letters  of  his  missionary 
labours  very  often  draw  my  tears  of  admiration  and  gratitude 
to  God.  It  is  surely  an  honour  and  blessing  for  the  college 
of  Nicolet  to  have  given  such  a  priest  to  the  Church." 

I  answered  Mr.  Leprohon:  "You  have  not  exaggerated  the 
good  qualities  of  Mr.  Fluet.  As  I  had  been  his  most  inti- 
mate friend  when  he  was  with  us,  the  morel  knew  him  the 
more  I  admired  him." 

This  conversation  had  done  me  much  good.  I  felt  happy 
to  see  that  my  respected  superior  was  sharing  my  views 
about  my  friend.  My  last  thought  when  going  to  bed  at  the 
close  of  that  day  was  to  thank  God  for  having  given  me  such 
a  friend. 

The  next  day  was  a  stormy  day,  which  I  could  never  forget 
should  I  live  a  thousand  years.  Two  of  our  noblest  pine-trees 
had  been  shattered  into  fragments  by  the  lightning  and 
brought  down  by  the  hurricane  with  a  terrible  noise. 

It  seemed  impossible  to  get  any  mail  in  such  a  storm,  but 
in  this  we  were  to  be   happily   disappointed;  for  our  long 
wished=for  letters  arrived,  though  six  hours  later  than   usual. 

However,  I  was  among  the  disappointed  of  that  day.  No 
letters  for  me.     My  business  was  then  to  look   at   the   more 


Abbe    Fluet's  Conversion  395 

lucky  ones  whose  eyes  were  running  from  line  to  line  of  the 
messages  they  had  received.  My  attention  was  particularly 
riveted  on  our  good  director,  Mr.  Leprohon,  who,  convulsively 
raising  his  hands  towards  heaven,  was  crying,  "My  Grod! 
My  God!     This  is  not  possible.     This  cannot  be! " 

Suspecting  that  he  had  received  the  sad  news  of  the  death 
of  some  dear  friend  or  relative,  I  kept  silent  to  show  my  re- 
spect for  his  grief. 

But  after  a  few  moments  of  unspeakable  grief,  turning 
towards  me,  he  said,  "  Dear  Chiniquy,  I  have  just  received 
the  most  deplorable,  the  most  incredible  news.  I  do  not  dare 
to  tell  it  to  you.  It  is  incredible.  My  God!  This  is  not 
possible!  I  cannot  consent  to  give  you  such  a  deplorable 
message.     Try  to  find  it  out.     But  you  cannot." 

After  a  moment  of  silent  anxiety  and  surprise  I  answered, 
"  You  have  just  received  the  saddest,  the  most  incredible 
news  which  could  come  to  you  and  to  me,  and  you  want  me 
to  guess  at  it?  Well!  Well!  The  most  incredible  and  the 
saddest  news  that  can  come  to  me  is  that  Mr.  Fluet  has 
become  an  apostate,  and  that  he  has  turned  to  be  a  Prot- 
estant." 

"How  can  you  say  that?"  replied  Mr.  Leprohon,  with  an 
accent  of  terror  and  unmistakable  sorrow. 

"  Because  it  comes  to  my  mind  as  a  flash  of  lightning  as 
being  the  most  incredible  and  the  most  desolating  news  I  can 
receive,"  I  answered. 

"  This  is  more  than  strange,"  replied  Mr.  Leprohon.  "  You 
are  correct;  Fluet  is  an  apostate.  He  has  just  publicly 
abandoned  our  holy  religion.     He  is  a  Protestant." 

This  news  spread  like  a  thunderbolt  all  over  Canada. 
And  it  created  unspeakable  surprise  and  sorrow  wherever  it 
was  told. 

No  French  Canadian  Roman  Catholic  priest  had  left  our 
Church  for  more  than  sixty  years.  The  humble  people  of  the 
country,  as  well  as  the  highly  educated  ones  of  the  city,  had 
almost  come  to  the  conclusion  that  their   religion   of  Rome 


396  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

was  on  such  sure  foundations  that  nothing  could  shake  it. 

Of  course  since  my  conversion,  they  had  a  good  opportu- 
nity to  change  their  minds,  as  hundreds  of  priests  and  monks 
have  left  the  Pope  to  follow  Christ,  in  America. 

The  following  facts  were  also  calculated  to  give  them  more 
correct  views. 

In  the  spring  of  1851,  just  twenty  years  later,  the  Bishop 
of  Chicago,  my  Lord  Vandevelde,  having  asked  me  to  go  to 
the  State  of  Illinois  in  order  to  direct  the  tide  of  the  French 
speaking  emigrants  from  France,  Belgium  and  Canada  to- 
wards the  magnificent  plains  of  that  state,  in  order  to  form  a 
new  France,  I  went  to  ask  the  benediction  of  my  Lord  Bour- 
get,  Bishop  of  Montreal.  After  receiving  it  I  told  him:  "My 
Lord,  you  know  that  I  cannot  go  to  Illinois  without  passing 
through  Sandwich,  which  is  on  this  side  of  the  River  St. 
Clair,  the  dividing  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
Allow  me  to  tell  you  that  I  cannot  pass  by  Sandwich  without 
saluting  my  old  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Fluet,  and  making  an 
effort  to  help  him  to  come  back  to  our  holy  Church,  of  which 
he  has  been  so  long  one  of  the  most  devoted  and  respected 
priests.  I  have  invited  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  curate  of 
Longueuil,  to  accompany  me,  for  he  was  one  of  the  most 
devoted  friends  of  Mr.  Fluet.  I  hope  that  our  united  efforts, 
with  the  help  of  God,  will  determine  that  stray  sheep  to  come 
back  to  the  true  fold." 

"  Oh!"  cried  Bishop  Bourget,  "yes,  go  and  bring  back  that 
stray  sheep.  I  will  do  anything  to  help  you  in  this  holy  work. 
I  will  immediately  write  to  all  our  priests  and  good  nuns  to 
unite  in  prayer,  that  you  may  succeed.  Oh!  what  a  victory 
over  the  enemy  of  our  holy  Church  if  you  can  persuade  Mr. 
Fluet  to  come  back  to  us.  I  have  known  him  personally  and 
1  had  such  a  high  opinion  of  his  piety,  his  zeal  and  his 
matchless  capacity." 

"Yes,  my  Lord,"  I  answered,  "this  is  all  right,  but  you  must 
not  forget  that  Mr.  Fluet  is  married,  that  ho  is  poor  and  that 
he  has  at  least  three  or  four  children.     It  would  be  more  than 


Abbe   Fluet's  Conversion  397 

ridiculous  and  unbecoming  to  invite  him  to  let  that  woman 
and  those  children  starve  by  deserting  them  in  that  cowardly 
way.  We  cannot  extend  to  him  a  helping  hand  out  of  the 
bottomless  pit  into  which  he  has  fallen  without  presenting 
to  his  wife  and  children  the  means  of  an  honest  living." 

"  You  are  right,  Mr.  Chiniquy,  you  are  perfectly  right,' 
said  the  Bishop.  "  We  cannot  invite  Rev.  Fluet  to  let  his  wife 
and  children  starve,  after  his  conversion.  How  much  do  you 
think  that  we  must  o&ev  him  for  the  support  of  his  family?" 

"  We  cannot  offer  him  less  than  $10,000,"  I  answered. 

"  Though  it  is  a  pretty  big  sum  to  give,  I  will  ask  the  ad- 
vice of  my  secretary  and  my  other  counselors,  and  if  they 
are  of  the  same  mind  with  me,  you  shall  have  the  money  you 
want.  Ten  thousand  dollars  are  nothing  to  our  holy  Church 
compared  with  the  loss  of  a  priest  like  Mr.  Fluet." 

To  the  honour  of  the  counselors  of  the  Bishop,  I  am  happy 
to  say  that  in  less  than  half  an  hour,  the  $10,000  were  safe  in 
my  little  purse,  and  I  was  on  my  way  to  Lachine  to  the 
steamer  which  was  to  take  us  to  Detroit.  Three  days  later  we 
were  in  the  beautiful  parlour  of  Mr.  Baby,  the  judge  of  Sand- 
wich, on  the  Canadian  shore.  A  few  years  before,  I  had  made 
the  acquaintance  of  that  gentleman  in  Quebec,  and  I  had 
known  from  his  own  lips  that  he  used  to  employ  Mr.  Fluet  as 
his  legal  advisor,  and  had  business  to  transact  with  him  almost 
every  day.  He  had  said  to  me,  "  The  only  defect  of  Mr.  Fluet 
is  that  he  is  a  Protestant.  Apart  from  that  he  is  a  true  gen- 
tleman, and  one  of  the  most  honest  men  I  have  ever  known." 

No  words  can  give  an  idea  of  Judge  Baby's  surprise  when 
Mr.  Brassard  and  I  told  him  that  we  were  the  most  devoted 
admirers  of  Mr.  Fluet  while  in  the  Seminary  of  Nicolet,  and 
that  we  had  come  to  Sandwich  to  make  a  supreme  effort  to 
bring  him  back  to  our  holy  religion. 

"  My  impression  is  that  you  would  easily  succeed  if  he  were 
alone.  Though  a  Protestant  and  an  apostate,  he  is  not  such 
an  enemy  of  our  holy  Church  as  people  think.  He  is  the 
best  gardener  of  Sandwich  and  you  will  find   in   his   garden 


J9^  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

the  most  beautiful  flowers  which  can  grow  in  Canada.  And 
do  you  know  what  he  does  with  a  part  of  those  flowers?  I 
would  not  believe  it  had  I  not  seen  it  with  my  own  eyes. 
Once  and  often  twice  a  week  he  makes  one  or  two  splendid 
bouquets  with  them  which  he  asks  his  young  daughters  to  put 
on  the  altar  of  our  Church.  The  greatest  difficulty  you  will 
meet  is  his  poverty.  His  wife  and  children  would  surely 
starve  if  they  had  not  the  modest  income  derived  from  his 
daily  work  among  us  as  notary." 

I  then  showed  him  my  cheque  of  $10,000  for  the  support  of 
Mrs.  Fluet  and  her  children  in  case  they  would  all  consent 
to  become  Roman  Catholics,  and  let  her  husband  make  his 
peace  with  the  Church  he  has  denied. 

"  This  $10,000  may  be  a  great  factor  in  your  holy  mission," 
said  Judge  Baby,  "  but  I  see  a  more  formidable  obstacle  in 
the  character  of  Mrs.  Fluet.  She  is  a  most  honourable  lady, 
but  her  character  and  her  will  are  formed  of  granite  of  the 
hardest  quality.  She  sincerely  loves  and  respects  her  hus- 
band, and  she  is  one  of  the  most  dutiful  and  loving  mothers  I 
have  ever  seen.  Like  a  furious  lioness,  she  will  tear  the  hand 
which  will  take  her  children  from  her  and  she  will  demolish 
those  who  will  try  to  deprive  her  of  her  husband." 

I  met  the  objections  of  Judge  Baby  by  saying  that  I 
knew  the  success  of  our  mission  required  a  true  miracle  of 
the  grace  of  God,  but  my  faith  was  strong  enough  to  hope 
that  tliat  miracle  would  be  wrought.  "  The  first  thing  we 
have  to  do,"  I  said,  "is  to  meet  Mr.  Fluet.  He  knows  nothing 
of  our  presence  here.  He  would  at  once  come  here  if 
you  had  the  kindness  to  address  him  a  short  note  saying  that 
you  want  him  for  an  important  business.  You  have  told  us 
that  he  is  your  notary.  No  doubt  he  is  accustomed  to  come 
and  see  you  often  about  his  legal  business." 

"  That  is  just  what  I  will  do.  Remain  in  the  parlour  wait- 
ing for  Mr.  Fluet,  who  will  be  here  in  a  few  moments."  An 
hour  later  Mr.  Fluet  was  knocking  at  the  door,  expecting  to 
meet  Judge  Baby. 


Abbe  Fluet's  Conversion  399 

Though  he  had  not  seen  us  for  just  twenty  years,  he  recog- 
nized us  at  once. 

With  a  cry  mixed  with  joy  and  surprise,  he  exclaimed, 
"  Merciful  Grod!  Brassard  and  Chiniquy  here!"  Half  fainting 
with  his  uncontrollable  emotion,  he  threw  himself  into  our 
arms,  without  being  able  to  utter  any  other  words  than  "  Bras- 
sard and  Chiniquy  here!"  Torrents  of  tears  which  ran  down 
his  cheeks  helped  him  to  come  to  himself.  Bathing  our 
hands  with  his  tears  he  was  crying,  "  Is  it  possible  they  think 
of  me  and  still  love  me  in  Canada?"  "  Yes,  we  think  of  you 
and  we  still  love  you  in  Canada.  You  see  it  in  our  presence 
here.  It  is  in  the  name  of  your  former  friends,  the  priests  and 
the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  that  we  come  to  salute  you  and  to 
press  you  to  our  hearts." 

After  at  least  an  hour  of  the  most  friendly  conversation  about 
his  old  acquaintances  in  Canada,  I  introduced  the  delicate 
and  real  subject  of  our  mission,  but  in  such  a  friendly  manner 
that  he  could  not  be  offended. 

"  I  understand  and  respect  the  object  of  your  visit,"  he  said. 
"  My  only  surprise  is  that  you  have  so  long  delayed  it.  But 
do  not  forget  that  I  am  married  and  that  I  have  four  children. 
St.  Paul  says  marriage  is  a  great  mystery.  It  makes  only  one 
of  two  human  beings.  We  must  be  one,  not  only  in  body, 
but  in  mind  and  aspirations.  I  cannot  tell  what  I  can  do 
without  consulting  Mrs.  Fluet.  I  am  going  back  home 
at  4  P.  M.  and  I  will  give  you  my  answer,  rather  her 
answer,"  he  added  with  the  most  amiable  smile. 

The  $10,000  note  I  had  shown  him  had  not  drawn  from  him 
the  expression  of  gratitude  I  expected.  He  had  refused  to 
touch  it,  and  only  said  when  looking  at  it.  "  It  is  very  kind  and 
generous  on  the  part  of  the  Bishop  and  the  priests  of  Canada." 

The  hours  from  10  a.  m.  to  4  P.  M.  seemed  to  me  as  long 
as  a  century.  My  heart  was  throbbing  between  the  hope  of 
success  and  the  fear  of  disappointment. 

At  last  the  clock  struck  four  and  our  friend  was  again 
pressing  us  to  his  bosom. 


400  Forty   Years  In   the   Church  of  Christ 

The  preliminaries  of  this  last  conversation  were  short,  and 
to  my  anxious  question,  "What  news  do  you  bring  us?"  he 
answered : 

"  I  never  saw  anything  like  the  wrath  and  indignation  of 
my  wife,  when  I  told  her  the  message  you  had  brought 
from  Canada  for  us  both.  *Is  it  possible,'  she  said,  'that  the 
priests  of  Rome  are  so  degraded  and  so  blind  as  to  believe 
that  their  money  could  tempt  me  to  break  the  sacred  and 
most  blessed  ties  that  unite  me  to  you  ?  Go  and  tell  them 
that  there  is  not  gold  enough  in  Canada,  nor  in  the  whole 
world,  to  tempt  me  to  trample  under  my  feet  the  honoured  and 
blessed  crowns  of  wife  and  mother  which  the  great  God  that 
governs  this  world  has  given  me.  I  love  you,  Mr.  Fluet;  you 
know  it,  but  do  not  forget  it,  it  is  my  conviction  that  there 
are  not  tortures  enough  on  earth  to  punish  you  as  you  deserve 
if  you  were  deserting  me  to  go  back  and  wallow  in  the  mire 
in  which  the  priests  of  Rome  are  living.  To  split  your  head 
with  an  ax  with  my  own  hands  would  be  too  mild  a  vengeance 
for  the  crime  you  would  commit  in  deserting  me  to  obey  the 
precepts  of  a  church  which  I  know,  as  well  as  you,  is  the 
masterpiece  of  the  devil,  etc' 

"Please  do  not  ask  me  to  give  you  in  detail  all  the  com- 
pliments she  paid  you  for  your  friendly  message.  You  now 
hear  enough  to  show  you  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible  for 
me  to  break  the  sacred  ties  which  have  made  me  the  happy 
father  of  children,  who  with  me  will  bless  the  good  God  of 
heaven  during  all  eternity  for  their  existence.  But  I  hope 
that  this  stern  determination  of  Mrs.  Fluet  will  not  break  the 
blessed  ties  of  friendship  which  united  us  together." 

With  these  words  he  shook  hands  with  us  and  went  back 
to  his  happy  home. 

"  It  is  just  as  I  expected,"  said  Judge  Baby.  "  Mr.  Fluet's 
family  is  one  of  the  most  happy  and  respectable  at  Sandwich. 
He  is  not  rich,  but  he  has  enough  for  the  every  day  wants. 
Though  he  is  not  an  aggressive  man,  in  that  he  does  not  preach 
against  our  holy  religion,  his  example  does  a  great  injury  to 


Abbe   Fluet's  Conversion  401 

our  Church.  Our  priests  have  made  a  terrible  mistake  by 
publishing  that  he  was  a  drunkard,  a  wicked  man  who  was 
beating  his  wife  They  know  that  these  reports  are  vile  cal- 
umnies, for  Mr.  Fluet  is  a  perfect  example  of  sobriety,  being 
one  of  our  most  faithful  teetotalers." 

Though  I  failed  in  my  efforts  to  persuade  him  to  make  his 
peace  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  kept  up  a  course  of  friendly 
letters  with  him  when  forming  my  French  colony  in  Illinois. 

The  reader  may  imagine  his  joy  when  I  wrote  him  all  about 
my  conversion.  He  answered  me  with  a  letter  bathed  with 
tears  of  joy. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

The  Truth   Proclaimed  at   Montague.    Narrow  Escape.     Brutally   Struck 
Whilst  on  the  Steamer.     I  Forgive  My  Aggressor. 

The  6th  of  August,  1886,  I  arrived  at  Montague,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  towns  of  Prince  Edward  Island.  The 
weather  was  splendid.  Mr.  McLeod  who  gave  me  hospitality 
in  his  house,  after  extending  to  me  a  most  hearty  welcome, 
said:  "There  is  great  excitement  in  the  town  on  account  of 
your  coming,  but  we  have  a  good  number  of  Orangemen  here, 
and  with  the  help  of  God  we  will  protect  you. 

At  the  evening  meeting  the  fine  new  church  was  crowded 
to  its  utmost  capacity.  Among  the  crowd  were  many  Irish 
Roman  Catholics  and  some  French  Canadians.  The  address 
was  on  the  idolatry  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which  worships 
a  god  made  with  a  wafer.  To  my  great  joy  several  Romanists 
came  to  shake  hands  with  me  at  the  close  of  my  address,  say- 
ing: "Thank  you;  you  have  said  the  truth:  we  will  no  longer 
worship  a  god  made  by  the  servants  of  the  priests." 

I  blessed  God  for  the  result  of  that  address,  and  my  hope 
was  that  my  humble  labours  there  would  be  fructified  by  the 
God  of  the  Gospel. 

When  my  hostess  showed  me  to  my  room  at  night  I  re- 
marked that  it  was  very  near  the  street,  and  that  it  was  too 
much  exposed  to  the  stones  of  the  rioters,  if  there  should  be 
any  trouble  in  the  night.  Then  the  good  lady  gave  me 
another  room  which  could  not  be  exposed  to  the  stones  from 
the  street.  We  went  to  bed  after  asking  God  to  protect  us 
during  the  night.  He  had  heard  our  prayer  and  granted  our 
humble  petition. 

At  about  twelve  o'clock — the  night  was  very  dark — I  was 
awakened   by   a   frightful   noise.     Evidently  the  window  of 

402 


The  Truth   Proclaimed  at   Montague  403 

the  first  room  which  the  good  lady  had  prepared  for  me  was 
smashed  to  pieces,  and  stone  after  stone  was  pouring  into  the 
room.  I  kept  as  quiet  as  possible  in  my  room  that  they 
might  not  see  their  error.  Of  course  no  one  was  hurt,  as 
there  was  no  one  there.  The  reader  may  imagine  the  excite- 
ment in  the  morning  when  the  people  came  to  see  the  broken 
window  and  the  many  big  stones  on  the  floor  and  on  the  bed, 
every  one  of  which  could  have  killed  a  man.  I  had  to  thank 
God  for  having  inspired  me  not  to  take  that  room,  for  I 
surely  would  have  been  killed  there.  Many  friends  came 
during  the  forenoon  to  congratulate  me  on  my  narrow  escape, 
and  I  joined  my  thanksgiving  to  theirs,  to  the  God  of  the 
Gospel  who  had  so  visibly  protected  me.  Several  friends 
proposed  to  make  legal  inquiries  to  find  out  the  rioters  and 
the  would=be  murderers,  but  I  prevented  them,  saying  that 
the  best  thing  we  could  do  was  to  follow  the  example  of  our 
Saviour,  "  Forgive  and  forget." 

As  I  was  to  give  an  address  that  same  evening  in  another 
place,  I  prepared  myself  to  take  the  steamer  which  was  to 
leave  at  noon,  but  when  on  the  boat  I  saw  that  I  had  made  a 
mistake;  I  found  that  the  steamer  instead  of  leaving  at  noon, 
was  to  leave  only  at  2  P.  M.  The  captain  and  his  crew  were 
on  shore  taking  their  dinner.  I  had  dismissed  the  friends 
who  had  accompanied  me  to  the  steamer  and  I  remained 
alone  with  a  few  passengers.  I  took  a  chair  and  sat  on  the 
rear  of  the  deck  reading  my  Bible.  I  had  not  been  there 
long  when  I  heard  rapid  steps  approaching  me.  and,  looking 
up,  I  saw  a  giant  man,  with  rough  face,  walking  up  to  me 

and  uttering  terrible  imprecations,  saying:  "D apostate! 

this  is  your  last  day!  " 

My  first  thought  was  that  it  was  his  intention  to  throw  me 
overboard.  I  cried  to  my  God  for  help.  But  I  was  mis- 
taken. Instead  of  trying  to  throw  me  into  the  water,  he 
raised  his  terrible  arm  and  gave  me  a  blow  evidently  intended 
for  my  left  temple.  By  the  mercy  of  God  he  missed  his  aim; 
for   he  would  surely  have  killed  me  instantly  had  he  struck 


404  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  ot  Christ 

the  temple.  His  fist  struck  the  cheek-bone,  one  of  the  strong- 
est parts  of  the  human  body.  I  fell  unconscious  on  the  deck, 
where  I  suppose  I  remained  two  or  three  minutes.  When  I 
came  back  to  myself  I  found  three  good  ladies  washing  my 
face  with  cold  water  and  crying:  "  My  God!  my  God!  he  has 
killed  him!"  My  mouth  was  filled  with  blood  and  my  nose 
was  bleeding  profusely;  trying  to  speak  I  felt  that  one  of 
my  teeth  was  broken.  Quite  a  crowd  of  friends  surrounded 
me  and  helped  me  to  stand  upon  my  feet,  expressing  their 
indignation  at  the  brutal  attack  of  which  I  had  been  the 
victim. 

A  few  minutes  later  another  crowd  arrived,  having  in  their 
midst  my  would=be  murderer.  These  were  Orangemen  who 
were  working  on  the  shore  near  the  steamer,  and  who  had 
seen  him  when  he  struck  me.  Quick  as  lightning  everyone 
of  them  had  armed  himself  with  sticks  and  was  running 
after  the  faithful  servant  of  the  Pope.  Having  overpowered 
him  they  forced  him  to  march  back  to  me  in  order  that  I 
might  have  him  punished  as  he  deserved.  One  of  them 
said:  "  Here  is  the  infamous  coward  who  has  just  struck  you; 
we  saw  him  from  the  shore,  and  we  have  brought  him  back 
to  you  that  you  may  tell  us  what  to  do  with  him  and  he  be 
punished  as  he  deserves."  I  answered  him :  "  My  dear  friends, 
when  our  dear  Saviour  was  struck  on  one  cheek,  did  He  ask 
His  Father  or  His  apostles  to  punish  and  strike  his  enemies? 
No.  On  the  cross  where  He  was  nailed  He  prayed  to  His 
Father  for  those  who  had  crucified  Him,  saying:  '  Father,  for- 
give them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do.'  Well,  the  only 
thing  we  have  to  do  is  to  dismiss  the  man,  and  to  pray  our 
Heavenly  Father  that  He  may  help  him  to  know  the  Gospel 
truth,  and  to  give  up  the  errors  of  the  Church  of  Rome  which 
has  made  him  so  blind  and  so  cruel.  Give  me  his  name  and 
let  him  go."    They  told  me  that  his  name  was  Wm.  S.  Monds. 

The  empty  place  of  the  missing  tooth  is  a  daily  witness  of 
what  I  have  suffered  for  my  dear  Saviour's  sake,  and  I  bless 
Him  for  it. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

A  Vindication 
/  am.  become  a  fool  in  glorying;  ye  have  compelled  me,     2  Cor.  12:  2. 

Paul,  being  calumniated  by  false  disciples,  felt  bound  to 
vindicate  himself  and  to  show  how  fully  his  apostolic  position 
was  evidenced  by  his  life  and  his  fruitful  labors. 

False  disciples  having  yet  the  same  method  of  attack  as 
those  in  the  time  of  Paul,  must  be  fought  with  the  same 
weapons  as  those  of  the  apostle. 

Again  and  again  since  my  conversion  to  Protestantism  I 
have  read  in  the  Roman  Catholic  press  that  no  respectable 
Protestant  would  have  anything  to  do  with  me.  Such  slan- 
ders were  specially  current  about  the  year  1892,  and  formed  a 
part  of  a  great  scheme  plotted  by  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy 
of  Canada,  no  doubt  the  evident  purpose  of  which  was  to 
take  away  my  honour,  to  kill  me  morally,  seeing  that  the  va- 
rious attempts  to  take  away  my  life  had  been  frustrated. 

It  was  so  manifestly  the  case  that  even  newspapers  could 
not  help  noticing  it. 

If  you  look  in  the  file  of  the  Montreal  Witness  for  the 
year  1892,  you  can  read  in  an  editorial  of  the  10th  of  March 
the  following  item: 

"  We  see  by  an  Iowa  paper  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  lecturing 
there  and  that  he  is  pursued  by  carefully  concocted  slander 
of  the  vilest  kind,  which  would  appear  to  have  been  fur- 
nished by  some  slander  bureau  in  Canada. 

"Such  attacks,  when  publicly  made  where  Mr.  Chiniquy 
is  known,  are  comparatively  harmless,  as  he  is  well  able  to 
shame  his  slanderers,  and  they  only  furnish  him  with  a  more 

405 


4o6  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

effective  text.  It  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  such  abuse  that 
though  he  has  been  similarly  vilified  ever  since  he  left  the 
Church  of  Rome,  he  is  still,  as  he  has  })een  for  over  twenty 
years,  a  minister  in  good  standing  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Canada." 

A  Roman  Catholic  under  the  name  of  Kentucky  Ben  hav- 
ing published  in  that  same  paper  similar  stupid  slanders,  I 
thought  I  was  in  duty  bound  to  write  and  pul)lish  an  answer. 
As  many  new  facts  and  events  of  my  forty  years  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  are  brought  out  in  that  answer,  I  judge  it 
proper  to  insert  it  in  this  book. 

"Editor  of  The  Witness: 

"  Sir: — If  your  Protestant  readers  have  had  as  much  pleas- 
ure as  myself  in  perusing  the  last  article  of  my  Roman  Catho- 
lic friend,  '  Kentucky  Ben,'  they  will  unite  with  me  in  ad- 
dressing him  our  public  thanks.  For  that  correspondent 
does  not  touch  a  single  point  of  the  subject  of  the  controversy. 
In  order  to  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  personal  abuse  and  slander, 
he  has  not  only  given  to  your  readers  the  best  proof  that  my 
arguments  were  unanswerable,  but  he  has  also  shown  what 
kind  of  honesty  and  truthfulness  we  must  expect  when  argu- 
ing with  a  Roman  Catholic. 

"Yes!  let  your  readers  see  again  his  first  article  and  my 
answer,  with  his  last  reply;  and  they  will  find  that  no  at- 
tempt has  been  made  to  touch  a  single  one  of  my  arguments. 
And  why  so?  It  is  simply  because  Roman  Catholics,  being 
unable  to  meet  us  on  the  fair  ground  of  argument,  are 
forced  to  shift  the  questions,  and  they  resort  to  abuse,  of 
which  they  always  have  a  rich  stock.  Finding  himself 
utterly  incapable  of  denying  or  of  refuting  the  blasphe- 
mous and  idolatrous  teachings  of  his  Church,  which  I  had 
copied  word  by  word  from  his  most  approved  authors,  he 
thought  that  he  would  forever  crush  me  into  atoms  by  calling 
me  '  apostate,'  and  by  assuring    you   that   '  No   respectable 


A  Vindication  407 

Protestant  .  .  .  would  associate  with  him'  (Chiniquy). 
But,  as  he  has  not  deigned  to  give  any  proof  of  my  public- 
degradation  and  rejection  from  the  company  and  intercourse 
with  respectable  Protestants,  I  will  fill  that  gajj  and  give  you 
a  few  facts  which  will  show  that  not  only  '  Kentucky  Ben,' 
but  that  all  the  Bishops  and  priests  of  Canada,  with  the 
whole  Roman  Catholic  press  of  Montreal  and  Quebec,  are 
honest  when  they  proclaim  from  morning  till  night  these  last 
thirty  years  that  the  apostate  Chiniquy  is  so  degraded  that 
'  No  respectable  Protestant  would  associate  with  him,' 

"  Surely,  they  will  be  grateful  to  me  for  giving  them  the 
unanswerable  proofs  of  that  supreme  degradation,  under  the 
burden  of  which  I  am  crushed  to  the  ground. 

"First  Fact:  A  few  months  after  my  conversion  from 
Romanism  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  my  people  of 
St.  Anne,  Illinois,  were  visited  in  1859  by  a  terrible  calamity. 
They  lost  their  crops,  and  they  had  not  enough  to  live  on 
two  months.  The  ministers  and  people  of  Washington, 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  Plattsburg, 
Springfield,  Chicago,  Lafayette  and  many  other  cities,  having 
heard  of  that  calamity,  invited  me  to  go  and  address  them. 
During  the  three  months  I  spoke  to  these  people,  the  large 
churches  and  the  immense  halls  were  never  large  enough  for 
the  multitudes  who  wanted  to  hear  me.  Those  multitudes 
not  only  wanted  to  have  a  little  talk  with  the  infamous 
apostate  Chiniquy — but  they  wanted  to  press  his  hand — and 
when  pressing  his  hands,  they  let  $75,000  slip  into  them  as  a 
public  token  of  their  horror  and  contempt  for  him.  Those 
$75,000  not  only  saved  my  dear  colony  of  St.  Anne  from  a 
sure  ruin,  but  they  became  the  first  irrefutable  proof  that 
Chiniquy  was  so  degraded  that  no  respectable  Protestant 
would  associate  with  him. 

"Second  Fact:  The  next  year,  1860,  was  the  three  hundreth 
anniversary  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  of  Scotland.  An 
evangelical  festivity  such  as  the  world  had  never  seen  was 
prepared  in  Edinburgh,  to  which  the  most  prominent  Protes- 


4o8  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

tant  ministers  and  laymen  were  invited.  The  committee 
appointed  to  make  those  invitations  in  the  name  of  the  Scotch 
people  were  Rev.  Doctors  Guthrie,  Cunningham  and  Begg. 
These  gentlemen  wrote  me  a  most  polite  invitation  to  go  and 
attend  their  grand  meeting  in  Edinburgh.  When  I  arrived 
in  the  midst  of  that  venerable  assembly,  there  were  such 
cries  of  joy,  such  clapping  of  hands,  such  stamping  of  feet, 
such  manifestations  of  joy  that,  for  a  long  time,  it  was 
impossible  for  me  or  anybody  else  to  say  a  word.  Though 
the  rule  had  been  passed  that  no  orator  should  speak  more 
than  once,  I  was  asked  and  forced  to  speak  three  times. 
After  the  assembly,  four  hundred  of  the  principal  ministers 
pressed  me  to  go  and  address  their  people  and  I  spent  six 
months  lecturing  in  the  cities  of  London,  Glasgow,  Liverpool, 
Birmingham,  Bath,  Manchester,  Brampton,  Sheffield,  Oxford, 
Edinburgh,  Armagh,  Kingstown,  Queenstown,  York,  etc.  To 
show  me  further  their  supreme  contempt  for  my  person  and 
my  work,  as  proclaimed  by  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben,'  they  gave 
me  $25,000  before  I  left  their  noble  country,  for  my  humble 
labour. 

"  Third  Fact:  When  I  was  lecturing  in  Glasgow,  the  rich- 
est merchant  of  that  city,  John  Henderson,  invited  me  to 
his  magnificent  mansion  that  I  might  take  a  few  days  of  rest. 
The  second  day  he  invited  a  great  number  of  the  ministers 
of  Glasgow  to  a  soir6e,  at  the  end  of  which  he  presented  me 
with  a  purse  filled  with  $2,000  in  gold,  that  Mr.  *  Kentucky 
Ben'  and  the  whole  Roman  Catholic  people  might  under- 
stand and  publish  tiiat  'the  apostate  Chiniquy  was  so 
degraded  that  no  respectable  Protestant  would  associate  with 
him.' 

"  Fourth  Fact :  When  I  was  lecturing  in  Great  Britain,  the 
Synod  of  the  Free  Protestant  Church  of  France,  which  was 
held  at  St.  Etienne,  invited  me,  through  their  illustrious 
president,  Frederic  Monod,  to  attend  their  meetings.  I  ac- 
cepted that  honour.  I  went  to  St.  Etienne  and  addressed 
that  venerable  Church  of  France  twice,  that  I  might  give  a 


A  Vindication  409 

proof  to  Mr.  'Kentucky  Ben'  that  no  respectable  Protestant 
would  have  anything  to  do  with  the  infamous  apostate 
Chiniquy. 

"Fifth  Fact:  When  I  went  back  to  my  colony  of  St.  Anne, 
Illinois,  in  1861,  I  was  the  witness  of  the  terrible  civil  war 
between  the  North  and  the  South  of  the  United  States.  As 
I  was  the  personal  friend  of  President  Abraham  Lincoln,  I 
used  to  visit  him  every  year  in  his  grand  white  mansion  at 
Washington,  and  that  illustrious  man  each  time  overwhelmed 
me  with  the  marks  of  his  esteem.  But  the  last  time  he  gave 
me  such  a  grand  proof  of  it  that  I  think  it  is  my  duty  here  to 
tell  it.     It  was  on  the  8th  of  June,  1864,  he  told  me: 

"  '  To-morrow  afternoon  I  will  receive  the  delegation  of  the 
deputies  of  all  the  loyal  states  sent  to  officially  announce  the 
desire  of  the  country  that  I  should  remain  the  President  four 
years  more.  I  invite  you  to  be  present  with  them  at  that  in- 
teresting meeting.  You  will  see  some  of  the  most  prominent 
men  of  our  Republic,  and  I  will  be  happy  to  introduce  you  to 
them.  You  will  not  present  yourself  as  a  delegate  of  the  peo- 
ple, but  only  as  the  guest  of  the  President,  and,  that  there  may 
be  no  trouble,  I  give  you  this  card  with  a  permit  to  enter  with 
the  delegation.  But  do  not  leave  Washington  before  I  see 
you  again.  I  have  some  important  matter  on  which  I  want 
to  know  your  mind.' 

"  And  the  next  day  that  infamous  apostate  Chiniquy  was 
put  the  first  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Protestant  President  of 
the  United  States,  and  introduced  by  him  to  the  most  illus- 
trious Protestants  of  that  great  Republic,  that  my  friend, 
'  Kentucky  Ben,'  and  all  his  compeers  in  the  Church  of  Rome 
might  have  the  right  to  proclaim  to  their  people,  that  the 
'  apostate  Chiniquy  is  so  degraded  that  no  respectable  Protes- 
tant would  associate  with  him.' 

"Sixth  Fad:  In  1874  the  whole  Protestant  people  of  Eng- 
land wanted  to  congratulate  the  German  Emperor  and  his 
Prime  Minister,  Bismarck,  for  the  noble  rebuke  they  had  given 
to  the  Pope,  when  he  (the  Pope)  had  so  insolently  written  to 


41  o  P'orty   Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

the  Emperor  that,  because  he  had  been  baptized,  he  ought  to 
consider  himself  a  spiritual  subject  of  the  Pope. 

"A  grand  meeting  was  convoked  at  the  splendid  Exeter  Hall 
of  London,  when  the  best  Protestant  orators  of  the  time  were 
selected  to  speak  and  prepare  the  address  which  was  to  be  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  German  ambassador  for  his  Emperor. 

"Well,  the  committee  of  organization  of  the  memorable  as- 
sembly requested  me  in  a  polite  letter  to  go  again  to  England 
to  address  that  meeting,  and  I  went.  I  spoke  there  twice  in 
the  presence  of  all  England's  noblest  Protestant  sons  and 
daughters, 

"These  providential  and  surely  unmerited  honours  were 
given  me  that  the  Bishops  and  priests  of  Rome  might  proclaim 
with  all  their  trumpets  and  through  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben,'  that 
the  'apostate  Chiniquy  was  so  degraded  that  no  respectable 
Protestant  would  associate  with  him.' 

"Seventh  Fact:  I  forgot  to  mention  that  the  first  time  I 
addressed  the  people  of  London  in  their  immense  Exeter  Hall, 
the  crowd  was  so  great  that  thousands  of  people  had  been 
unable  to  enter.  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spurgeon  had  introduced 
me  to  the  people  of  that  great  metropolitan  city  of  England, 
and  that  the  Viceroy,  one  of  the  greatest  heroes  of  India,  Sir 
John  Lawrence,  had  consented  to  act  as  the  president  of  that 
meeting.  These  three  facts  prove  to  a  certainty  that  the 
priests  of  Rome  and  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben '  are  perfectly 
honest  when  they  assure  their  people  that  the  'apostate 
Chiniquy  is  so  degraded  that  no  respectable  Protestant  would 
associate  with  him.' 

"Eighth  Fact:  The  second  time  I  was  invited  to  go  to 
England  in  order  to  congratulate  the  Emperor  of  Germany, 
in  1874,  two  hundred  ministers  requested  me  not  to  leave 
their  country  before  addressing  their  people  on  the  errors  and 
idolatries  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  And  I  spent  again  six 
months  in  lecturing  on  those  sad  subjects  in  one  hundred 
and  twenty  of  the  cities  of  Great  Britain.  The  noble  Prot- 
estant people  gave  me  again  $28,000  as   the  expression   of 


A  Vindication  41 1 

their  Christian  sympathies,  that  the  whole  world  might  know 
that  the  priests  of  Rome  and  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben '  are  per- 
fectly honest  when  they  say  that  I  was  so  degraded  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Protestants  that  no  respectable  person  would  have 
anything  to  do  with  me. 

"Ninth  Fact:  When  I  returned  from  that  second  excur- 
sion to  England  the  grand  Presbyterian  Church  of  Canada 
wanted  me  to  leave  my  dear  mission  of  Illinois  in  order  to 
preach  to  my  French^Canadian  countrymen  of  Canada. 
They  rented  a  good,  comfortable  house  in  Montreal  for  me 
and  my  family,  and  gave  me  a  sum  of  money  much  above  my 
merit  for  my  work.  In  unity  and  under  the  supervision  of 
that  grand  Presbyterian  Church,  I  laboured  from  1874  to 
1878  in  Canada  with  such  an  admirable  success  that  four 
thousand  French=Canadians  of  Montreal  and  vicinity  left  the 
errors  and  idolatries  of  Rome  to  accept  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  they  formed  several  congregations  of  converts.  I  stopped 
that  work  only  when,  being  quite  exhausted,  I  was  ordered 
by  my  physician  to  go  and  take  the  bracing  air  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  in  1878. 

"During  these  four  years  almost  all  the  ministers  of  Mon- 
treal had  requested  me  to  address  their  people,  and  it  was  my 
privilege  to  speak  in  Montreal,  Toronto,  Kingston,  London, 
Guelph,  Sarnia,  Windsor,  Quebec,  Halifax,  St.  Johns,  N.  B., 
Peterboro,  Muskoka,  Ottawa,  Bothwell,  Belleville,  Brockville, 
Dundas,  Hamilton,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  other  cities 
and  towns. 

"  These  facts  are  evidence  again  that  the  priests  of  Rome 
and '  Kentucky  Ben '  are  perfectly  honest  when  they  proclaim 
and  publish  that  I  was  so  degraded  that  the  Protestants  who 
have  any  respect  for  themselves  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  me. 

"  Tenth  Fact:  In  1878,  when  preparing  to  go  and  breathe 
the  bracing  atmosphere  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  I  i^rovidentially 
received  a  kind  letter  from  the  Rev.  George  Sutherland,  D. 
D.,  pastor  of  one  of  the  richest  and  most  influential  congre- 


412  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

gations  of  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  Australia.  He  invited 
me  in  the  name  of  the  Protestant  people  of  that  distant  land 
to  go  and  visit  them.  There  was  a  bank=note  in  that  letter  of 
$500  to  help  me  to  pay  my  traveling  expenses,  and  to  help 
Mr.  "Kentucky  Ben"  and  all  the  priests  of  Rome  to  prove 
that  the  infamous  apostate  Chiniquy  was  so  degraded  that 
no  respectable  Protestant  would  associate  with  him. 

"Eleventh  Fact:  When  the  principal  Protestants  of  Sydney 
heard  that  the  steamer  which  was  taking  me  to  their  young, 
but  already  so  grand  country,  was  in  sight,  they  engaged  a 
steamer  to  come  and  receive  me  in  triumph,  at  a  distance  of 
twelve  miles,  that  the  honest  priests  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
with  'Mr  Kentucky  Ben,'  might  have  a  good  opiaortunity  to 
publish  that  the  apostate  Chiniquy's  moral  degradation  is  so 
well  known  to  the  whole  world  that  'no  respectable  Protes- 
tant would  associate  with  him.' 

"  Twelfth  Fact:  I  spent  two  years  in  Australia,  Tasmania, 
and  New  Zealand.  All  that  time  the  Protestant  ministers  and 
people  overwhelmed  me  with  public  and  personal  tokens  of 
the  kindest  Christian  respect  and  feeling.  I  dare  say  they 
took  me  in  triumph  from  one  extremity  to  the  other  of  their 
vast  countries.  Having  known  from  the  most  reliable 
sources  that  there  was  a  plot  among  the  Roman  Catholics  to 
murder  me,  they  put  a  guard,  almost  every  night  for  more 
than  a  year,  of  twelve  and  twenty  men  to  protect  me.  Their 
large  churches  and  halls  were  never  large  enough  for  the 
multitudes  who  wanted  to  see  and  hear  me.  Several  times 
they  fought  like  lions,  and  several  were  wounded  when  they 
wanted  to  repulse  the  blind  Roman  Catholics  sent  by  the 
priests  to  kill  me.  In  Hobert  Town,  they  requested  the 
Governor  of  Tasmania  to  use  a  militia  force  in  order  to  pro- 
tect and  save  my  life.  I  gave  seven  hundred  addresses, 
lectures  and  sermons  to  those  dear  and  noble  Protestant 
friends  whom  my  God  had  given  me  in  those  distant  lands, 
and  they  gave  me  $40,000  as  a  token  of  their  kind  feelings 
when  I  was  in  their  midst;   and  it  is  in  the  presence  of  those 


A  Vindication  413 

public  facts  that  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben '  repeats  what  he  hears 
every  day  from  the  lips  of  his  priests  and  what  he  reads  in 
their  daily  and  weekly  press:  "That  the  apostate  Chiniquy's 
moral  degradation  is  such  that  no  respectable  Protestant 
would  associate  with  him." 

"  Thirteenth  Fact:  At  the  June  meeting  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  1889,  some  members 
having  said  that  in  a  few  days  Father  Chiniquy  was  to 
celebrate  his  eightieth  anniversary,  there  was  such  a  burst 
of  applause  as  I  never  heard  before.  Rev.  Dr.  MacVicar,  presi- 
dent of  the  Presbyterian  College  of  Montreal,  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Warden,  secretary-treasurer,  moved  that  the  whole  assembly 
should  give  me  a  vote  of  congratulation  as  a  public  token  of 
their  esteem.  After  that  vote  was  unanimously  given  he 
asked  the  General  Assembly  to  invite  me  to  write  a  new  book 
under  the  name  of  "  Thirty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ," 
as  a  sequel  to  my  last  book,  '  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of 
Rome, '  and  this  vote  was  passed  unanimously  in  the  midst 
of  the  greatest  enthusiasm  and  good  feelings  I  ever  saw. 
And  it  is  only  a  few  days  after  such  public  facts  that  all  the 
echoes  of  the  Church  of  Rome  proclaim  what  the  priests  and 
the  Bishops  and  their  press  say  with  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben  ': 
'  that  the  apostate  Chiniquy's  degradation  is  so  complete 
that  no  Protestant  who  has  any  self-respect  would  associate 
with  him.' 

"Fourteenth  Fact:  When  in  England  in  1860,  great  recep- 
tions were  given  me  by  some  of  the  most  eminent  Protestants 
of  Great  Britain.  I  will  mention  only  a  few  for  the  edifica- 
tion of  the  Bishops  and  priests  of  Rome,  who  constantly 
assure  their  people  that  my  degradation  is  as  complete 
among  the  Protestants  as  it  is  among  the  Roman  Catholics. 
The  first  invitation  was  from  Dr.  Tait,  Lord  Bishop  of 
London,  wlio  was  soon  after  named  the  Primate  of  Eng- 
land and  raised  to  the  highest  dignity  of  the  Church  of 
England  by  being  named  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  That 
grand  reception  was  given  me  in   the   historical   Palace    of 


414  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

Lambeth,  where  I  was  surrounded  by  some  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  the  Protestant  Church,  among  whom  was 
the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas,  now  Bishop  of  Geelong, 
Australia.  The  second  recei^tion  given  me  which  I  will 
mention  was  by  Lord  Gainsborough,  whose  wife  was  the 
first  attending  lady  of  the  Queen  of  England.  At  his  table 
and  in  his  magnificent  salon  I  was  surrounded  by  the  elite  of 
the  nobility  of  Great  Britain.  They  spent  the  evening  by 
questioning  me  about  the  superstitions  and  idolatries  of 
Rome,  and  the  hope  I  had  of  seeing  the  dear  people  of 
Canada  following  the  example  of  England  by  breaking  the 
heavy  and  ignominious  yoke  of  the  Pope;  they  really  over- 
whelmed me  with  the  tokens  of  their  kind  and  Christian 
feeling.  In  the  course  of  the  evening,  Lady  Gainsborough 
invited  a  young  duchess  to  go  round  her  noble  guests  to  re- 
ceive the  offerings  they  wished  to  give  me  for  the  support  of 
my  mission  among  my  countrymen,  and  she  brought  me  two 
hundred  and  fifty  gold  guineas,  that  Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben,' 
and  all  the  Bishops,  cardinals  and  priests  of  Rome,  with  their 
truthdoving  press,  might  have  go(jd  reasons  to  publish  that 
the  apostate  Chiniquy  was  so  degraded  that  no  Protestant 
who  had  any  self-respect  would  have  any  thing  to  do  with 
him. 

"  I  might  speak  of  the  other  receptions  given  me  by  Lord 
Roden,  by  Sir  Arthur  Kinnaird,  M.  P.  for  Edinburgh,  and 
many  others,  bat  I  suppose  that  my  intelligent  readers  have 
got  proofs  enough  to  convince  them  that  the  priests  and 
Bishops  of  Rome  with  Mr,  '  Kentucky  Ben '  are  real  gentle- 
men and  most  honest,  fair-play-loving  men,  when  they  tell 
you  that  the  infamous  apostate  Chiniquy  is  so  degraded  that 
no  respectable  Protestants  have  ever  consented  to  have  inter- 
course with  him  since  he  left  the  Holy(?)  Catholic(?)  and 
Apostolic(?)  Church  of  Rome. 

"Fifteenth  Fact:  However,  there  is  another  fact  which  so 
clearly  shows  that  the  Bishops  and  the  priests  of  Rome,  with 
Mr.  '  Kentucky  Ben, '  are  honest,  reliable  and  lovers  of  truth 


A  Vindication  415 

when  they  speak  of  the  apostate  Chiniquy,  that  I  cannot 
omit  it. 

"  Since  my  God  has  opened  my  eyes  to  the  corruption, 
superstitions  and  idolatries  of  Rome,  I  have  considered  it 
my  duty  to  publish,  not  all — it  would  be  too  horrible — but  a 
part  of  the  mysteries  and  iniquities  which  I  saw  when  within 
the  walls  of  that  modern  Babylon,  and  I  have  written  a  good 
number  of  pamphlets  and  books — among  the  principal  of 
which  are:  'The  Priest,  the  Woman  and  the  Confessional'; 
and  'Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome.'  Well,  to  prove 
their  supreme  contempt,  the  Protestant  nations  of  Europe 
and  America  have  translated  my  books  into  their  languages, 
and  they  have  bought  a  prodigious  number  of  them.  They 
have  been  translated  into  the  languages  of  Italy,  France, 
Spain,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Germany,  and  Bohemia. 

"  The  '  Priest,  the  Woman  and  the  Confessional '  is  in  its 
fiftieth  edition,  though  it  was  published  for  the  first  time  in 
1874;  and  '  Fifty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Rome'  is  at  its 
twentieth  edition,  though  published  in  1884.  Two  hundred 
thousand  copies  of  my  lectures  have  already  been  sold,  and  more 
than  100,000  copies  of '  The  God  of  Rome  Eaten  by  a  Rat '  have 
been  bought  in  England,  and  still  more  on  the  continent  of 
America.  More  than  a  million,  then,  of  my  books  and  pam- 
phlets have  been  purchased  by  the  Protestants  within  twenty 
years,  to  show  to  the  priests  of  Rome  that  they  are  perfectly 
true,  honourable  and  honest,  when  they  assure  you  that  the 
apostate  Chiniquy's  degradation  is  so  well  known  that  no 
Protestant  who  has  any  self=respect  would  have  anything  to 
do  with  him. 

^'Sixteenth  Fact:  When  in  the  month  of  January,  1888,  I 
was  lecturing  in  London,  I  received  the  visit  of  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury, who  presented  me  an  invitation  from  the  committee  of 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  to  attend  their  grand 
meeting  on  the  5th  of  February.  When  a  priest  of  Rome 
very  often  I  had  read  the  encyclicals  of  the  infallible  Pope 
of  Rome,  assuring  me  that  the  Bible  Society  was  one  of  the 


41 6  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

most  infernal  inventions  of  the  devil;  that  the  men  engaged 
in  circulating  the  Bible  were  the  instruments  of  the  devil,  and 
that  next  to  the  devil  they  were  the  enemies  of  God;  and  I 
had  to  believe  it  then,  just  as  Mr.  'Kentucky  Ben'  with  all 
his  priests  has  to  believe  it  now.  Had  I  had  any  self=respect  or 
a  spark  of  religion,  I  would  have  rejected  with  horror  a  mes- 
sage coming  from  such  degraded  men,  particularly  when  it 
was  brought  to  me  by  such  a  vile  Protestant  as  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury. But,  alas,  I  was  then  as  degraded  as  I  am  to  day,  and  I 
accepted  the  invitation.  The  5th  of  February,  1883,  I  was  in 
the  midst  of  those  infamous  heretics  who,  according  to  His 
Holiness,  the  infallible  Pope  of  Rome,  are  so  blindly  the 
enemies  of  God  and  His  Son  Jesus  Christ  that  they  circulate 
His  soubdestroying  word  all  over  the  world.  I  gave  them  an 
address,  of  which  they  ordered  100.000  copies  to  be  scattered 
all  over  Great  Britain.  Through  that  address,  finding  that  I 
was  as  depraved  as  they  were  themselves  in  reference  to  the 
Bible,  they,  by  unanimous  vote,  elected  me  one  of  the  govern- 
ors and  rulers  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and 
now  you  can  see  my  name  in  the  very  midst  of  those  wicked 
men. 

"  After  such  a  proof  of  my  degradation,  I  hope  your  readers 
will  easily  admit  that  Mr.  'Kentucky  Ben,'  his  Bishops  and 
priests  are  true  gentlemen  and  lovers  of  the  truth,  when  they 
have  proclaimed  these  thirty  years,  throughout  the  whole 
world,  that  the  apostate  Chiniquy  is  so  degraded  that  no 
honest  Protestant  would  have  anything  to  do  with  him. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX 

Conversion  of  M.  J.  A.  Papineau  to  Protestantism.    Senator  Tasse's 
Dasardly  Attack  Against  Me  Answered. 

Brighter  sunshine  of  Christian  joy  never  beamed  in  my 
soul  than  at  the  reading  of  the  following  message  which  I 
received  on  the  threshold  of  the  year  1894: 

"Monte  Bello,  January  1,  1894. 
"  My  Revered  Friend: 

"  Through  the  grace  of  God  I  have  come  to  see  that  it  is 
my  duty  to  break  openly  with  Romanism,  in  which  I  have 
ceased  to  believe  these  last  thirty  years.  But  so  far  I  have 
not  had  the  courage  of  following  your  heroic  example  in  giv- 
ing up  before  the  world  the  errors  of  the  Pope  to  embrace 
the  truth  of  Christ  as  we  find  it  revealed  in  the  Gospel. 
However,  to=day,  with  the  help  of  my  Divine  Master,  I  wish 
to  do  so,  and  I  come  to  ask  you  what  steps  I  have  to  take  to 
become  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church;  and  as  I  con- 
sider you  the  Luther  of  Canada  and  as  the  reading  of  your 
works  has  greatly  helped  me  in  coming  to  my  present 
resolution,  I  beg  the  favour  to  be  admitted  by  you  into  the 
great,  noble  Protestant  family. 

"Your  sincere  friend  and  admirer, 

"  L.  J.  A.  Papineau." 

Louis  Joseph  Amedee  Papineau  bears  the  most  illustrious 
name  of  Canada.  He  is  the  eldest  son  of  Louis  Joseph 
Papineau,  whose  memory  will  be  forever  dear  to  the  French= 
Canadians;  for  it  is  to  the  ardent  patriotism,  the  indomitable 
energy  and  the  remarkable  eloquence  of  that  great   patriot 

417 


41 8  Forty   Years    in   the   Church  of  Christ 

that  they  are  indebted  for  the  enjoyment  of  all  the  British 
franchises. 

The  son  had  inherited  the  patriotism  of  the  father;  he  fol- 
lowed him  throughout  that  glorious  campaign  of  agitation  and 
revendication  during  the  year  1837.  To  help  more  effect- 
ively the  great  movement  of  political  reforms,  he  founded 
the  society  of  the  Fils  de  la  Liberty.  But  one  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  in  the  way  was  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy,  who  saw 
in  those  reforms  a  threat  to  their  power. 

The  rebellion  of  1837  having  failed,  Mr.  Papineau  took 
refuge  in  the  United  States,  where  being  welcomed  in  a 
Christian  family  he  learned  to  know  something  of  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God.  After  having  been 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  New  York,  he  visited  France,  his 
mother  country;  the  researches  he  made  there  into  his  family 
tree  proved  to  him  that  his  ancestors  were  Protestants  and 
that  they  were  only  restored  to  the  Church  of  Rome  through 
bloody  persecutions. 

He  returned  to  Montreal  in  1843,  and  being  yet  desirous  of 
devoting  himself  to  the  welfare  of  his  countrymen,  he  organ- 
ized an  association  called  SociM6  des  Amis,  which  was  the 
forerunner  of  the  lusfitiit  Cunadioi  destined  to  vindicate  so 
bravely  the  right  of  the  people  to  think  for  themselves.  At 
the  same  time  he  used  his  pen  in  giving  lessons  of  political 
economy  which  were  published  in  the  Revue  Cunadienne. 
In  1844  he  was  appointed  protonotary  of  Montreal,  an  office 
which  he  filled  worthily  during  thirty^wo  years,  when  in 
1875  he  resigned  and  retired  to  private  life  in  the  historic 
manoir  of  the  seigniory  of  Monte  Bello,  bequeathed  to  him 
by  his  father.  There,  in  the  quiet  of  a  delightful  country 
abounding  in  grand  sceneries,  Mr.  Papineau,  in  the  presence 
of  his  God,  pondered  most  earnestly  over  the  religious 
question  with  the  ultimate  result  set  forth  in  his  letter. 

It  was  my  great  joy  and  privilege  on  Wednesday  evening, 
the  10th  of  January,  1894,  in  St.  John's  French  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  admit  that  brother   into   the   fellowship  of   the 


A  Dastardly  Attack  Answered  419 

Christian  Church  before  a  great  concourse  of  attentive 
and  respectful  people  composed  very  largely  of  Roman 
Catholics. 

The  ceremony  was  grand  in  its  simplicity  and  solemnity. 

Eloquent  addresses  were  delivered  by  some  pastors  of  the 
French  Protestant  Churches  of  the  city,  and  by  Rev.  Dr. 
MacVicar,  who  wished  also  to  honour  us  with  his  presence  on 
this  occasion.  Before  extending  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship to  Mr.  Papineau,  the  following  questions  were  put  to 
him,  to  each  of  which  his  answer  was  clear  and  firm,  testify- 
ing his  deep  conviction  that  the  course  he  was  pursuing  was 
the  proper  one: 

1.  Do  you  believe  with  all  your  heart  in  God  your 
Creator  and  Father,  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  who  has 
redeemed  you,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  has  sanctified 
you? 

2.  Do  you  believe  that  the  Word  of  God,  which  you  have 
been  taught,  is  the  perfect  revelation  of  His  will  and  can 
alone  instruct  you  to  safety?  Are  you  so  persuaded  of  the 
truth  of  the  Gospel  that  you  understand  that  it  is  better  to 
suffer  all  things  than  to  abandon  the  profession  of  it? 

3.  Do  you  put  all  your  confidence  in  Jesus  Christ  as  your 
only  Saviour  and  do  you  seek  in  Him  your  safety  and 
your  justification? 

4.  Do  you  repent  of  all  your  sins  and  do  you  confess  them 
to  God  with  a  sincere  heart?  Do  you  ask  pardon  of  the 
Lord  and  will  you  in  return  renounce  sin  to  live  according  to 
temperance,  justice  and  piety  and  to  offer  yourself  to  God  in 
holy  living  sacrifice,  which  is  your  proper  and  reasonable 
service? 

After  his  formal  reception,  Mr.  Papineau,  trembling 
slightly  with  emotion,  slowly  mounted  the  platform  and  ex- 
pressed his  gratitude  to  God  for  that  glorious  day.  In  his 
Ijresent  step  he  had  consulted  no  one  but  his  own  conscience. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  had  been  driven  from  his  country 
into  exile.     He  had  seen  priests  refuse  the  last  consolations 


420  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

of  the  Church  to  his  friends  who  had  fallen  in  the  rebellion  of 
1837.  The  priests  had  in  this  way  done  more  to  defeat  and 
crush  the  cause  of  the  patriots  than  all  the  English  bayonets 
brought  against  them.  Forced  to  expatriate  themselves  as  a 
result,  he  was  warmly  welcomed  in  a  Presbyterian  family  in 
the  United  States.  Here  he  first  learned  to  think  that  sal- 
vation could  be  found  outside  of  the  Catholic  Church.  He 
had  asked  himself:  "Are  we  not  all  children  of  God?" 
He  commenced  to  reason;  naturally  doubt  followed.  At  the 
age  of  twenty^five  he  had  ceased  the  practise  of  the  Catholic 
religion.  After  a  long  study  he  had  reached  the  conviction 
that  the  only  pure  source  of  Christianity  and  the  only  rule  of 
faith  was  the  Bible.  In  barbarous  ages  the  clergy  succeeded 
in  introducing  into  the  belief  and  ceremonies  of  the  Catholic 
faith  a  host  of  legends  until  it  had  lost  all  resemblance  to  the 
true  faith  of  Christ.  Only  recently  had  the  council  of  the 
Church  surrendered  its  supremacy  in  favour  of  the  Pope. 
To-day  the  Pope  was  a  spiritual  czar.  He  had  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  most  evangelical  Church  was  the  best,  and 
hence  he  had  resolved  to  cast  his  lot  with  the  Presbyterians, 
who  were  the  spiritual  heirs  of  the  Huguenots,  his  ancestors. 

The  conversion  of  Mr.  Papineau  called  from  the  dark  abyss 
loud  thunders  of  maledictions  and  gave  the  Roman  Catholic 
newspapers  the  occasion  to  prove  once  more  to  the  world 
that  Romanism  is  a  school  of  intolerance  teaching  that,  as  the 
end  justifies  the  means,  it  is  then  legitimate  to  get  rid  of  an 
adversary  by  slander  and  calumnies,  and,  if  law  allows,  by 
sword  and  fire. 

The  Minerve,  a  French  daily  of  Montreal  considered  as  the 
organ  of  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  at  the  time,  signalized 
itself  above  all  others  by  its  slanderous  attack  against  Mr. 
Papineau  and  myself. 

The  editor  of  that  paper  was  then  a  Mr.  Tass6,  a  senator  of 
the  Federal  Government,  a  very  pious  man,  devoted  to  his 
Church,  a  mere  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy. 

Under  the  heading,  "The  Apostate  Papineau,"  he  published 


A  Dastardly  Attack  Answered  421 

an  article  on  the  11th  of  January,  1894,  which  I  consider 
proper  to  put  before  the  eyes  of  ray  readers  to  give  them  a 
sample  of  the  style  of  controversy  the  converts  from  Roman- 
ism have  ordinarily  to  contend  with. 

"Louis  Joseph  Papineau,  the  famous  tribune,  brought  up 
in  the  atheist  school  of  the  encyclopedists  of  the  eight- 
eenth century,  ended  his  career  ignominiously.  It  would 
have  been  better  for  him  to  have  never  been  born  than  to 
have  such  an  end!  His  indomitable  pride  brought  him  to 
the  threshold  of  eternity  without  asking  pardon  from  the  One 
who  had  created  him.  Papineau  set  a  terrible  example,  which, 
alas!  has  deleterious  fruits.  'Woe  to  him  through  whom 
scandal  cometh!'  saith  the  Holy  Scriptures.  We  find  to=day 
a  sad  application  of  these  words. 

"  The  father  had  defied  God  on  his  death  bed.  He  grieved, 
filled  with  terror  and  scandalized  all  those  who  believed  in 
eternal  truth. 

"  The  son  has  just  abjured  the  faith  of  his  fathers.  He  has 
put  upon  himself  an  indelible  stain, 

"Both  have  placed  between  themselves  and  the  race  that  so 
long  followed  the  former,  an  impassable  gulf.  Nothing  is 
wanting  in  the  shame  of  the  son  of  the  agitator. 

"The  one  who  presided  at  last  night's  ceremony,  in  the  St. 
Catherine  St.  Presbyterian  Church,  amidst  the  sound  of 
hymns,  is  that  white^washed  sepulchre,  that  prevaricating 
priest,  rotten  to  the  very  marrow  of  his  bones,  that  shameless 
high  liver  who  broke  all  his  vows,  who  soiled  those  around 
him  while  at  the  same  time  saying  his  mass,  who  preached 
temperance  in  order  the  better  to  wallow  in  licentiousness; 
who,  in  the  confessional,  learned  the  secrets  of  human  fail- 
ings only  to  make  use  of  them;  who,  having  no  other  means 
left  of  blackmailing  but  apostasy,  has  ever  since  been  con- 
stantly carrying  his  crimes  through  every  clime  and  vomiting 
insult  upon  the  holy  religion  of  which  he  was  for  a  long  time 
the  unworthy  defender. 

"  It  is  unnecessary  for  us  to  say  that  his  name  is  Chiniquy; 


422  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

that  this  reprobate  man  has  become  an  object  of  horror 
among  our  people,  and  that  he  never  treads  lower  Canadian 
Boil,  a  soil  covered  with  the  blood  of  martyrs,  but  holy 
water  is  sprinkled  to  wipe  off  his  diabolical  footsteps, 

"A  Papineau  becomes  the  victim,  the  prey  of  Chiniquy; 
what  a  debasement,  what  a  gloom  for  us,  what  a  national 
humiliation!  Let  us  bow  down  our  heads  and  cover  our- 
selves with  ashes.  Let  us  pray  and  ask  pardon  from  God  for 
having  drawn  upon  us  such  a  terrible  punishment." 

I  thought  it  was  my  duty  to  reply  to  such  vituperations,  as 
they  came  from  a  man  who  occupied  such  an  exalted  position 
in  this  country;  but  Mr.  Tass6,  as  it  might  well  be  anticipated, 
denied  me  the  justice  to  publish  my  vindication  in  his  paper. 
It  then  found  its  way  into  the  Protestant  press  of  this  city. 

As  it  is  an  answer  to  repeated  attacks  against  my  character 
found  current  among  Roman  Catholics,  I  consider  it  binding 
upon  me  to  include  it  in  this  book. 

"  To  the  editor  of  The  Minerve. 

"Sir: — You  expect,  no  doubt,  that  your  article  against 
me,  in  your  issue  of  yesterday,  will  not  be  left  unanswered, 
and  you  will  not  be  disappointed. 

"  You  cannot  find  words  vile  enough  to  express  your  con- 
tempt for  my  priestly  life. 

"  Well,  I  must  confess  before  God  and  man,  to=day  again, 
what  I  have  confessed  a  thousand  times  before  the  disciples 
of  the  Gospel,  not  only  on  this  continent  of  America,  but  all 
over  Great  Britain  and  in  the  Australian  colonies,  that 
during  twenty=five  years  I  was  a  priest  of  antichrist,  when  it 
had  been  my  intention  and  the  ardent  desire  of  my  heart  to 
be  the  priest  of  Christ. 

"I  had  to  learn  by  heart  the  infamous  questions  which  the 
Church  of  Rome  forces  every  priest  to  learn  by  heart. 

"  I  was,  in  conscience,  as  all  your  priests  are,  bound  to  put 
into  the  ears,  the  mind,  the  imagination,  the  heart  and  the  souls 
of  females,  questions  of   such   nature,    the   immediate   and 


A  Dastardly   Attack  Answered  423 

direct  tendency  of  which  is  to  fill  the  minds,  the  memory 
and  hearts  of  both  priests  and  jjenitents  with  thoughts, 
phantoms  and  temptations  of  such  a  degrading  nature  that 
there  are  no  words  adequate  to  express  them. 

"  Pagan  antiquity  has  never  known  any  institution  more 
polluting  to  the  soul  and  body  than  the  Roman  Catholic 
Auricular  Confession.  No,  there  is  nothing  more  corrupting 
under  heaven  than  the  law  which  forces  a  female  to  tell  her 
thoughts,  desires,  and  most  secret  feelings  and  actions  to  a 
bachelor,  an  unmarried  man.  Let  him  be  called  a  priest  or 
a  monk,  it  makes  no  difference.  Your  priests  may  deny  that 
before  you ;  but  they  will  never,  never  dare  to  deny  it  before  me. 

"  Now,  my  dear  sir,  if  you  look  upon  me  as  a  degraded 
priest,  because  my  heart,  my  soul,  my  mind,  as  those  of  all 
your  priests,  were  plunged  into  those  bottomless  waters  of 
iniquity  which  flow  from  the  confessional,  I  confess  guilty. 
I  was  polluted,  and  I  was  polluting  the  souls  of  my  female 
penitents  just  as  every  priest  has  to  do  every  day. 

"  It  has  required  the  whole  blood  of  the  great  Victim,  who 
died  on  Calvary  for  you  and  for  me  and  for  all  sinners, 
to  purify  me.  And  I  pray  that  you  and  all  your  priests  who 
are  required  to  live  in  the  same  pestilential  atmosphere  may 
be  purified  through  the  same  blood. 

"  But  now  that,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God,  I  have  been 
taken  away  from  the  ways  of  perdition  in  which  Rome  was 
forcing  me  to  walk  with  all  her  priests,  I  have  no  fear  to  be 
confronted  with  you,  or  any  other  of  my  small  or  big  slander- 
ers. Many  times  since  that,  I  have  challenged  my  bitterest 
enemies  to  find  anything  in  my  life  for  which  an  honest  man 
must  blush. 

"  Without  any  boasting  I  can  say  that  there  has  never  been 
any  priest  in  Canada  so  constantly  cherished,  honoured  and 
respected  by  the  priests,  the  Bishops  and  the  people  as  I  was. 
It  is  a  public  fact  that  I  was  carried  in  triumph  from  one 
parish  to  the  other  from  the  remotest  part  of  lower  Canada 
to  the  shores  of  Lake  Huron. 


4^4  Forty   Years   in    the   Church   of  Christ 

"  There  is  not  a  great  city,  not  a  small  town,  not  a  cathedral 
in  the  province  of  Quebec  or  Ontario,  to  which  the  Bishops 
have  not  invited  me  to  address  the  people;  and  the  churches, 
even  your  immense  Notre  Dame  Church  of  Montreal,  were 
never  large  enough  to  receive  the  people  who  wanted  to  hear 
me.  I  do  not  say  these  things  in  boasting,  but  only  to  show 
to  you  and  your  readers  how  our  dear  countrymen,  people, 
priests  and  Bishops,  were  kind  to  me. 

"  The  powers  given  to  me  to  hear  confessions  and  to 
preach  everywhere  were  greater  than  those  given  to  any  other 
priest.  In  1850,  after  I  had  been  a  priest  seventeen  years, 
two  years  after  I  had  left  my  parish  of  Kamouraska,  in  order 
to  establish  the  temperance  society  all  over  Canada,  when  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  Right  Rev.  Baillargeon,  went  to  Rome, 
he  came  to  meet  me  in  Longueuil  and  requested  me  to 
address  a  letter  with  my  book  on  temperance  to  the  Pope, 
through  him,  that  he  might  present  it  himself  to  the 
Sovereign  PontifiP — and  when  he  had  presented  it  he  wrote 
me  a  letter,  which  is  still  in  my  hand,  and  which  I  will  be 
much  pleased  to  show  you,  if  you  desire  to  see  it.  In  this 
letter  my  Bishop  tells  me  these  very  words: 

'"Rome,  Aug.,  10,  1850. 
"  'Sir  and  Dear  Friend:— 

" '  It  is  only  to=day  that  it  has  been  given  me  to  have  a 
private  audience  with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  I  have  taken 
the  opportunity  to  present  to  him  your  book,  with  your  letter, 
which  he  has  received,  I  do  not  say  with  that  goodness, 
which  is  so  eminently  characteristic,  but  with  all  special 
marks  of  satisfaction  and  approbation,  while  charging  me  to 
send  to  you  that  he  accords  his  apostolic  benediction  to  you, 
and  to  the  holy  work  of  temperance  which  you  preach. 

"'I  esteem  myself  happy  to  have  had  to  offer  on  your  be- 
half, to  the  "Vicar  of  Christ,"  a  book,  which,  after  it  had  done 
so  much  good  to  my  countrymen,  has  been  able  to  draw  from 
his   venerable   mouth   such   solemn  words  of  approbation  of 


A  Dastardly  Attack  Answered  425 

the  temperance  society,  and  of  blessing  n  he  one  who  is  its 
apostle;  and  it  is  also  for  my  heart,  a  very  sweet  pleasure  to 
transmit  them  to  you. 

" '  Your  friend, 
"  '  Chakles  T.  Baillargeon.' 

"  Do  you  believe  that  such  approval  could  have  been  given  by 
my  Bishop,  if,  as  my  slanderers  say  to-day,  my  previous  con- 
duct had  been  that  of  a  vile  man,  when  I  left  my  dear  parish 
of  Kamouraska,  in  order  to  spread  the  principles  of  temper- 
ance all  over  Canada?  Then,  that  ^^ishop  would  have  been 
the  vilest  man.  But  if  you  will  ask  me,  with  many  of  my 
other  slanderers:  'Were  you  not  interdicted  in  1851  by  the 
Bishop  of  Montreal,  a  few  days  before  you  left  Canada  for 
the  United  States?' 

"  I  will  tell  you.  Yes,  sir;  the  Bishop  of  Montreal  pretended 
to  have  suspended  me  then.  But  I  will  allow  you  to 
judge  if  that  event  is  not  one  of  the  most  glorious  of  my  life, 
and  one  for  which  I  must  bless  God  forever.  For  my  integ- 
rity has  never  been  more  clearly  shown  than  in  that  circum- 
stance. 

"The  sham  interdict,  which  was  a  nullity  by  itself — for  its 
want  of  form,  of  justice  and  of  foundation,  had  been  kept  by 
the  Bishop,  and  for  good  reasons,  a  secret  in  Canada  as  well 
as  in  the  United  States.  By  his  immediate  and  subsequent 
acts  the  Bishop  has  given  me  the  evidence  that  he  was  re- 
gretting his  error,  and  was  trying  to  repair  it  and  make  me 
forget  it.  But  not  long  after  I  left  the  Church,  to  my  sur- 
prise, the  Bishop  of  Montreal  said  that  he  had  interdicted 
me,  and  that  he  was  inviting  me  to  publish  the  reasons  of 
my  interdict.  It  was  the  best  opportunity  that  the  provi- 
dence of  God  had  offered  me  to  prove  my  innocence,  and  the 
incredible  excess  of  folly  and  tyranny  of  this  Bishop  of 
Rome.  Without  delay  I  accepted  the  challenge,  and  pub- 
lished through  the  French=Canadian  press  the  following  let- 
ter,  which  forever   confounded  the   poor   Bishop.     He   has 


4^6  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

never  been  able  to  reply,  though  it  was  so  important  for  his 
honour,  and  the  interests  of  his  Church,  that  he  should  have 
replied  to  it: 

"'St.  Anne,  April,  18,1857. 
♦"To  Bishop  Bourget: 

"'My  Lord:— 

"  '  In  your  letter  of  the  19th  of  March  you  assure  the  public 
that  you  have  interdicted  me,  a  few  days  before  my  leaving 
Canada  for  the  United  States,  and  you  invite  me  to  give  the 
reasons  of  that  sentence.  I  will  satisfy  you.  On  the  28th  of 
September,  1851,  I  found  a  letter  on  my  table  from  you,  tell- 
ing me  that  you  had  suspended  me  from  my  ecclesiastical 
oflBces,  on  account  of  a  great  crime  that  I  had  committed,  and 
of  which  I  was  accused.  But  the  name  of  the  accuser  was 
not  given  nor  the  nature  of  the  crime.  T  immediately  went 
to  see  you,  and,  protesting  my  innocence,  I  requested  you  to 
give  me  the  name  of  my  accusers,  and  to  allow  me  to  be  con- 
fronted by  them,  promising  that  I  would  prove  my  inno- 
cence.    You  refused  to  grant  my  request. 

" '  Then  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  with  tears,  in  the  name  of 
God,  I  requested  you  again  to  grant  me  to  meet  my  accusers 
and  prove  my  innocence.  You  remained  deaf  to  my  prayers 
and  unmoved  by  my  tears;  you  repulsed  me  with  malice  and 
with  airs  of  tyranny  which  I  had  thought  impossible  in  you. 

"  'During  the  twenty- four  hours  after  this,  sentiments  of  an 
inexpressible  wrath  crossed  my  mind;  I  tell  it  to  you  frankly. 
In  that  terrible  hour,  I  would  have  preferred  to  be  at  the 
feet  of  a  heathen  priest,  whose  knife  would  have  slaughtered 
me  on  his  altars  to  appease  his  infernal  gods,  rather  than  be 
at  the  feet  of  a  man,  who,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
under  the  mask  of  the  Gospel,  should  dare  to  commit  such  a 
cruel  act.  You  have  taken  away  my  honour — you  have  de- 
stroyed me  with  the  most  infamous  calumny — you  have  re- 
fused me  every  means  of  justification.  You  have  taken 
under  your  protection  the  cowards  who  were  stabbing  me  in 
the  dark! 


A   Dastardly  Attack  Answered  427 

"  'Though  it  is  hard  to  repeat  it,  I  must  tell  it  here  publicly: 
I  cursed  you  in  that  horrible  day. 

" '  With  a  broken  heart,  I  went  to  the  Jesuit  College,  and  I 
showed  the  wounds  of  my  bleeding  soul  to  the  noble  friend 
who  was  generally  my  confessor,  the  Rev.  Father  Schneider, 
the  director  of  the  college. 

"  'After  three  days,  having  providentially  got  some  reasons 
to  suspect  who  was  the  author  of  my  intended  destruction,  I 
sent  someone  to  ask  her  to  come  to  tlie  college  without  men- 
tioning my  name. 

"'When  she  was  in  the  parlour  I  said  to  Father  Schneider: 
"  You  know  the  horrible  iniquity  of  the  Bishop  against  me — 
with  the  lying  words  of  a  prostitute  he  has  destroyed  me;  but 
please  come  and  be  the  witness  of  my  innocence." 

"  'When  in  the  presence  of  that  unfortunate  woman,  I  told 
her:  "You  are  in  the  presence  of  God  Almighty  and  two  of 
His  priests.  They  will  be  the  witnesses  of  what  you  say! 
Speak  the  truth.  Say,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  this 
venerable  priest,  if  I  have  ever  been  guilty  of  what  you 
accused  me  to  the  Bishop.' 

"  'At  these  words  the  unfortunate  woman  burst  into  tears; 
she  concealed  her  face  with  her  hands,  and,  with  a  voice  half 
suffocated  with  her  sobs,  she  answered:  "  No,  sir,  you  are  not 
guilty  of  that  sin!  " 

"  '  "  Confess  here  another  truth,"  I  said  to  her;  "  Is  it  not 
true  that  you  had  come  to  confess  to  me  more  with  the  desire 
to  tempt  me  rather  than  to  reconcile  yourself  to  God?  " 

"  '  She  said,  "  Yes,  sir,  that  is  the  truth."  Then  I  said  again, 
"  Continue  to  say  the  truth,  and  I  will  forgive  you,  and  God 
also  will  forgive  your  iniquity.  Is  it  not  revenge  for  having 
failed  in  your  criminal  design,  that  you  have  tried  to  destroy 
me  by  that  accusation  to  the  Bishop?" 

"  '  "Yes,  sir,  it  is  the  only  reason  which  has  induced  me  to 
accuse  you  falsely." 

"'And  all  that  I  say  here,  at  least  in  substance,  has  been 
heard,  written  and  signed  by  the  Right  Rev.  Father  Schneider, 


428  Forty  Years  in    the   Church  of  Christ 

one  of  your  priests  and  the  director  of  the  Jesuit  College.  That 
venerable  priest  is  still  living  in  Montreal;  let  the  people  of 
Canada  go  and  interrogate  him.  Let  the  people  of  Canada  also 
go  to  Mr.  Brassard,  who  had  also  in  his  hands  an  authenticated 
copy  of  that  declaration. 

" '  Your  lordship  gives  to  understand  that  I  was  dis- 
graced by  that  sentence,  some  days  after  when  I  left  Canada 
for  Illinois.  Allow  me  to  give  you  my  reasons  for  difiFering 
from  you  in  that  matter. 

"  '  There  is  a  canon  law  of  the  Church  which  says:  "  If  a 
censure  is  unjust  and  unfounded,  let  the  man  against  whom 
the  sentence  has  been  passed  pay  no  attention  to  it.  For,  be- 
fore God  and  His  Church,  no  unjust  sentence  can  bring  any 
injury  to  anyone.  Let  the  one  against  whom  such  unfounded 
and  unjust  judgment  has  been  pronounced  even  take  no 
steps  to  annul  it,  for  it  is  a  nullity  by  itself." 

"  *  You  know  very  well  that  the  sentence  you  have  passed 
against  me  was  null  and  void  for  many  good  reasons;  the  first, 
because  it  was  founded  on  a  false  testimony.  Father  Schnei- 
der is  there  ready  to  prove  it  to  you,  if  you  have  any  doubts. 

"  '  The  second  reason  I  have  to  believe  that  you  yourself  had 
considered  your  sentence  a  nullity  and  that  I  was  not 
suspended  by  it  from  my  ecclesiastical  dignity  and  honours,  is 
founded  on  a  good  testimony,  I  hope,  the  testimony  of  your 
lordship  himself. 

"  '  A  few  hours  before  my  leaving  Canada  for  the  United 
States,  I  went  to  ask  your  benediction,  which  you  gave  me 
with  every  mark  of  kindness.  I  then  asked  your  lordship 
frankly  to  tell  me  if  I  had  to  leave  with  the  impression  that  I 
was  disgraced  in  your  mind.  You  gave  me  the  assurance  of 
the  contrary. 

"  '  Then  I  told  you  that  I  wanted  a  public  and  irrefutable 
testimony  of  your  esteem. 

"  *  You  answered  that  you  would  be  happy  to  give  me  one, 
and  you  said,  "  What  do  you  want?"  "I  wish,"  I  said,  "to 
have  a  chalice  from  your  hands  to  ofPer  the  holy  sacrifice  of 


A  Dastardly  Attack   Answered  419 

the  mass  the  rest  of  my  life."  You  answered,  "  I  will  do  that 
with  pleasure,"  and  you  gave  orders  to  one  of  your  priests  to 
bring  you  a  chalice  that  you  might  give  it  to  me.  But  that 
priest  had  not  the  key  of  the  box  containing  the  sacred  vases ; 
that  key  was  in  the  hands  of  another  priest,  who  was  absent 
for  a  few  hours. 

"  '  I  had  not  the  time  to  wait,  the  hour  of  the  departure  of 
the  train  had  come.  I  told  you,  "  Please,  my  lord,  send  that 
chalice  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  of  Longueuil,  who  will  for- 
ward it  to  me  in  a  few  days  to  Chicago."  And  the  next  day 
one  of  your  secretaries  went  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  gave 
him  the  chalice  you  had  promised  me,  which  is  still  in  my 
hands.  And  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard  is  there,  still  living,  to  be 
a  witness  of  what  I  say — and  to  bring  that  fact  to  your 
memory  if  you  have  forgotten  it. 

"  '  Well,  my  lord,  I  do  believe  that  a  Bishop  will  never  give 

a  chalice  to  a  priest  to  say  mass  when  he   knows   that  that 

priest  is  interdicted.     And  the  best  proof  you  know  very  well 

that  I  was  not  interdicted  by  your  rash  and  unjust  sentence, 

is  that  you  gave  me  that  chalice  as  a  token  of   your  esteem 

and  of  my  honesty,  etc. 

. " '  Respectfully, 

'"C.  Chiniquy.' 

"  Ten  thousand  copies  of  this  terrible  exposure  of  the  de- 
pravity of  the  Bishop  were  published  in  Montreal!  I  have 
asked  the  whole  people  of  Canada  to  go  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Schneider,  and  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  to  know  the  truth. 
The  Bishop  remained  confounded.  It  was  proved  that  he 
had  committed  against  me  a  most  outrageous  act  of  tyranny 
and  perfidy;  and  that  I  was  perfectly  innocent  and  honest, 
and  that  he  knew  it,  in  the  very  hour  that  he  tried  to  destroy 
my  character,  sending  this  wicked  woman  to  corrupt  me. 
Probably  the-  Bishop  of  Montreal  had  destroyed  the  copy  of 
the  declaration  of  my  innocence  and  honesty,  and  he  thought 
he  would  speak  of  the  so=called  interdict  after  I  was  a  Prot- 
estant.    But  in  that  he  was  cruelly  mistaken. 


430  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

"  By  the  great  mercy  of  God,  three  other  authenticated 
copies  had  been  kept,  one  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneider  him- 
self, another  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brassard,  and  another  by  one 
whom  it  is  not  necessary  to  mention — and  then,  he  had  no 
suspicion  that  the  revelation  of  his  unchristian  conduct,  and 
of  his  determination  to  destroy  me  with  the  false  oath  of  a 
prostitute,  were  in  the  hands  of  too  many  people  to  be 
denied.  The  Bishop  of  Chicaj^o,  whom  I  met  a  few  days 
after,  told  me  what  I  was  well  aware  of  before:  "  That  such  a 
sentence  was  a  perfect  nullity  in  every  way,  and  that  it  was  a 
disgrace  only  for  those  who  are  blind  enough  to  trample  un- 
der their  feet  the  laws  of  God  and  man  to  satisfy  their  bad 
passions.  And  no  doubt  you  will  be  of  the  same  mind  if  you 
are  an  honest  man." 

"But  to  show  you  that  the  Bishop  of  Montreal  himself  never 
thought  that  his  unjust  sentence  had  any  efiFect,  and  that  he 
himself  never  lost  his  good  opinion  of  me,  I  also  publish  for 
your  perusal  the  letter  he  gave  me  the  day  that  I  left  Canada. 
These  are  his  words: 

"'October  13th,  1851. 
"  'I  cannot  but  thank  you  for  what  you  have  done  in  our 
midst,  and  in  my  gratitude  towards  you  I  wish  you  the  most 
abundant  benediction  of  heaven.  Every  day  of  my  life  I 
will  remember  you.  You  will  always  be  in  my  heart,  and 
I  hope  that  in  some  future  day  the  providence  of  God  will 
give  me  some  opportunity  of  showing  you  all  the  gratitude  I 
feel  for  you. 

" '  Ignace, 
"  •  Bishop  of  Montreal.' 

"  I  ask  you,  'Will  ever  a  Bishop  say  to  a  priest,  in  a  written 
document,  signed  with  his  own  hands,  'I  cannot  but  thank 
you  for  what  you  have  done  in  our  midst,' — if  that  priest  had 
been  an  immoral,  a  bad  priest? 

"  Does  not  the  Bishop  who  writes  such  words  acknowledge 


A  Dastardly  Attack  Answered  43  i 

that  he  was  wrong  in  his  previous  and  hasty  and  unfavorable 
judgment? 

"  Would  the  intelligent  editor  of  The  Minerve,  if  he  were  the 
Bishop  of  Montreal,  write  to  a  priest,  'I  cannot  but  thank 
you  for  what  you  have  done  in  our  midst;  in  my  gratitude 
towards  you  I  pray  God  to  pour  His  most  abundant  blessings 
upon  you, '  if  he  knew  that  that  priest  was  an  immoral  and 
wicked  man?  No,  never;  nor  would  you  give  a  chalice  to  an 
interdicted  priest  to  say  mass  with  the  rest  of  his  life. 

"  Is  it  so  that,  as  long  as  a  priest  is  in  your  midst,  he  may  be 
a  most  depraved  man,  a  public  scandal,  a  murderer  of  souls, 
yet  the  Bishop  will  like  him,  honour  him  and  overload  him 
with  every  kind  of  public  and  private  mark  of  respect?  But 
when  he  leaves  them  to  become  a  Protestant,  then  they  pour 
out  on  him  their  scorn  and  abuse!  By  their  own  confession 
have  they  not  done  this  to  me?  If  I  were  an  immoral  man 
when  a  priest  of  Rome,  how  is  it  that  the  Bishops  have 
known  it  only  after  I  had  left  the  Church?  And  if  I  were  an 
immoral  man  when  in  their  midst,  why  is  it  that  the  Bishops 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  my  career,  gave  me  so 
many  public  and  private  marks  of  esteem  and  respect?  If 
they  have  done  so,  are  they  not  confessedly  worse  than  what 
they  called  me? 

"  In  1848  the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  in  a  public  document, 
puts  me  in  the  most  exalted  position  in  which  a  priest  has  ever 
been  placed.  He  calls  me  '  The  Apostle  of  Temperance  of 
Canada, '  and  one  of  his  best  priests.  The  same  year  he  in- 
duces the  Pope  to  send  me  a  magnificent  crucifix.  In  1850 
he  invites  the  people  of  Montreal  from  his  pulpit  in  his 
cathedral  to  come  with  the  Hon.  Judge  Mondelet  to  present 
me  with  a  gold  medal,  as  a  public  token  of  his  respect  and 
gratitude  ,to  me.  In  1851,  the  day  that  I  left  Canada,  he 
writes  me  that  what  I  have  done  in  his  diocese,  when  working 
under  his  eyes,  has  filled  him  with  gratitude!  And  the  same 
man,  after  I  had  left  the  Church  of  Rome,  says  that  I  was  an  im- 
moral priest — an  interdicted  and  suspended  priest! — and  that, 


43-  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

on  the  testimony  of  a  prostitute,  who  afterwards  declared  that 
she  had  made  a  false  oath  to  revenge  herself  Ijecause  she  had 
not  been  able  to  persuade  me  to  commit  a  crime  with  her! 

"If  what  I  declare  of  the  infamous  conduct  of  the  Bishop 
had  not  been  correct,  and  if  the  recantation  of  that  unfortu 
nate  woman  in  the  presence  of  the  Rev.  Father  Schneider 
had  not  been  correct  also,  how  easy  it  would  have  been  for 
the  Bishop  to  confound  me  forever  by  bringing  the  supe- 
rior of  the  Jesuit  College  as  a  witness  of  my  imposture 
And  how  it  would  have  been  the  imperative  duty  of  Father 
Schneider,  when  he  saw  his  name  in  the  public  press  com- 
mitted with  a  fact  so  degrading  to  the  Bishop,  to  come  for- 
ward and  publish  that  what  I  had  said  was  forgery! 

"Then  Chiniquy  would  have  been  forever  and  so  easily  con- 
founded! But  such  was  not  the  case.  The  poor  Bishop  had 
to  pay  publicly  for  his  infamous  conduct  towards  me,  and  he 
was  left  without  any  chance  of  escape.  If  you  are  honest  it 
is  not  on  Chiniquy  that  you  will  turn  your  scorn;  it  is  on  the 
man  who,  forgetting  all  the  laws  of  justice,  of  God  and  men, 
had  united  his  efforts  to  those  of  a  perjured  prostitute,  to  de- 
stroy his  innocent  victim.  And  if  you  are  not  honest  enough  to 
see  and  understand  this,  what  have  I  to  care  about  your  scorn? 

"Now  let  us  say  a  word  about  the  interdict  by  Bishop 
O'Eegan.  And  I  tell  you  boldly,  that  if  anything  can  be  con- 
sidered an  honour  by  any  man,  it  is  to  have  deserved  the  wrath 
of  so  publicly  depraved  a  man.  Though  he  never  interdicted 
me  (  he  only  threatened  to  do  it )  he  found  fit  to  publish  that 
he  had  done  it.  But  in  his  letter  of  November  20,  1856, 
where  he  publicly  gives  the  reason  of  that  so-called  sentence, 
he  somewhat  disturbs  the  plan  you  have  contrived,  my  dear  sir, 
to  make  people  believe  that  it  was  on  account  of  immorality. 
In  that  letter  the  Bishop  says:  'His  obstinate  want  of  sub- 
mission and  his  excessively  violent  language  and  conduct 
obliges  me  to  suspend  him! ' 

"  I  thank  and  bless  God  who  gave  me  the  strength  to  say 
some  great  truths  to  that  most  immoral  and  tyrannical  Bishop. 


A  Dastardly  Attack  Answered  433 

He  was  such  a  wicked  man  that  several  priests,  among  whom 
I  was  one,  wrote  to  the  Pope  about  his  bad  conduct;  and  the 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis,  and  many  other  Bishops,  having 
brought  also  serious  complaints  against  the  man,  his  diocese 
was  taken  away  from  his  hands,  and  he  got  a  bishopric  '  in 
partibus  infidelum,'  which  you  very  well  know  means  a 
bishopric  in  the  moon — and  the  place  was  just  fit  for  the  man. 

"The  sentence  was  never  served  on  me  in  any  way.  The 
Church  allowed  me  to  pay  no  attention  to  it;  and  the  sub- 
sequent excommunication  having  been  brought  by  three 
priests  who  at  the  time  were  beastly  drunk,  and  not  being 
signed  by  the  Bishop  nor  any  of  his  grand  vicars  or  known 
deputies,  I  was  bound  by  the  laws  of  the  Church  not  to  pay 
any  attention  to  it.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Desaulniers  and  the  Rev. 
Moses  Brassard,  having  come  some  time  later  from  Canada 
to  inquire  about  those  matters  and  reconcile  us  to  the  Bishop, 
declared  before  more  than  five  hundred  people  that  we 
'could  not  be  blamed  for  having  paid  no  attention  to  that 
sentence,  which  was  evidently  and  publicly  against  all  the 
known  laws  of  the  Church.' 

"  But  I  have  no  bad  feelings  against  that  unfortunate  man, 
who  died  five  years  after.  It  is  the  contrary.  His  abomin- 
able life,  his  vices,  his  complete  want  of  principles  which 
forced  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States  to  denounce  him  to 
the  Pope,  who  condemned  him  at  the  end,  have  helped  me 
much,  by  the  mercy  of  God,  to  know  what  the  Church  of 
Rome  has  been,  what  she  is,  and  what  she  will  be  till  the 
great  day  of  God  shall  open  the  eyes  of  her  poor  slaves  and 
bring  them  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  who  will  make  them  free 
with  His  Word  and  pure  with  His  blood. 

"  Read  the  following  declaration  of  the  same  Bishop  to  four 
deputies  sent  to  him  by  the  people  of  St.  Anne  just  two  days 
before  our  excommunication.  That  declaration,  signed  by 
four  Roman  Catholics,  is  under  oath  before  the  civil  tribunal 
of  Kankakee; — it  is  the  best  refutation  of  your  slanderous 
article  against  me. 


434  Forty   Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

"  Bishop  O'Re^an  <^ave  the  deputation  a  written  response, 
which  was  published  in  Canada  at  the  time  in  the  leading 
newspapers. 

"  The  Bishop  was  waited  upon  the  27th  day  of  August,  1856, 
and  presented  the  following  reply: — 

"  '  1st.  I  suspended  Mr.  Chiniquy  on  the  19th  of  this  month. 

"  '  2d.  If  Mr.  Chiniquy  has  said  mass  since,  as  you  say,  he 
is  irregular;  and  the  Pope  alone  can  restore  him  in  his 
ecclesiastic  and  sacerdotal  functions. 

"  '3d.  I  take  him  away  from  St.  Anne,  despite  his  prayers 
and  yours,  because  he  has  not  been  willing  to  live  in  peace 
and  in  friendship  with  the  Revs.  M.  Lebel  and  M.  Cartevel, 
although  I  admit  that  they  were  two  bad  priests,  whom  I 
have  been  forced  to  expel  from  my  diocese. 

"  *4th.  My  second  reason  for  taking  Mr.  Chiniquy  away 
from  St.  Anne  to  send  him  to  his  new  mission  south  of 
Illinois,  is  to  stop  the  lawsuit  Mr.  Spink  has  instituted 
against  him;  though  I  cannot  warrant  that  the  lawsuit  will 
be  stopped  at  that. 

"  '  5th.  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  one  of  the  best  priests  of  my  diocese, 
and  I  do  not  want  to  deprive  myself  of  his  services;  no  accusa- 
tions against  the  morals  of  that  gentlemen  have  been  proved 
before  me. 

"  '  6th.  Mr.  Chiniquy  has  demanded  an  inquest  to  prove  his 
innocence  of  certain  accusations  made  against  him,  and  has 
asked  me  the  names  of  his  accusers  to  confound  them ;  I  have 
refused  them  to  him. 

"  '  7th.  Tell  Mr.  Chiniquy  to  come  and  meet  me — to  prepare 
himself  for  his  new  mission,  and  I  will  give  him  the  letters 
he  needs  to  go  and  labor  there.' 

"  'Then  we  withdrew  and  presented  the  foregoing  letter  to 
Father  Chiniquy. 

'"Frs.  Bechard, 
"'J.  B.  L.  Lemoine, 
" '  Basilique  Allair, 
" '  Leon  Mailloux.' 


A  Dastardly  Attack  Answered  435 

"  Now,  my  dear  sir,  before  taking  leave  of  you  allow  me  to 
give  you  a  little  friendly  advice. 

"  When  you  argue  with  a  Protestant,  even  one  whom  you 
call  an  apostate,  never  make  a  personal  question  of  a  prin- 
ciple, if  you  wish  to  make  people  think  that  you  have  the 
right  side,  and  that  the  irrefutable  arguments  are  in  your 
favour.  For  the  very  moment  that  you  give  up  the  argu- 
ments on  the  question  to  drag  your  adversary  on  the  un- 
gentlemanly  and  unchristian  ground  of  personal  injuries  and 
slanders,  you  lose  your  cause  in  the  mind  of  an  intelligent 
people.  A  man  who  has  good  reasons  to  support  his  cause 
and  strong  arguments  has  never  recourse  to  those  personal- 
ities and  hard  names  which  you  have  used. 

"  The  question  is  not  to  know  who  has  committed  the  most 
sins  against  the  Decalogue,  but  whether  it  is  true  or  not  that 
the  Church  of  Rome  has  forsaken  the  Word  of  God,  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  in  order  to  preach  her  lying  traditions. 

"  If  you  could  prove  that  when  I  was  a  priest  of  Rome,  1 
was  as  criminal  as  David,  and  as  weak  as  Samson;  a  perjurer 
as  Peter,  or  a  blind  persecutor  as  Paul,  this  will  not  at  all 
prove  that  I  have  not  done  well  to  leave  the  Pope  in  order  to 
follow  Christ.  It  is  just  the  contrary.  The  more  wicked  I 
was  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  surrounded  as  I  was,  and  as  you 
are  to=day,  by  the  most  pestilential  atmosphere,  and  having 
before  my  eyes  the  example  of  a  concealed  though  most  hor- 
rible corruption  in  high  quarters,  as  well  as  among  my 
equals,  the  more  imperative  was  the  duty  for  me ,  as  for  you,  to 
go  out  of  those  ways   of   perdition. 

"  Do  you  know,  my  dear  sir,  to  what  I  have  been  tempted 
when  writing  this  letter?  The  thought  has  come  to  my 
mind  to  publish,  not  all  (for  it  would  be  too  terrible)  but  a 
part  of  what  I  know  of  the  inside,  and  almost  incredible 
corruption  of  Rome!  To  give,  for  instance,  a  part  of  the 
history  of  that  Grand  Vicar  who  was  guilty  of  an  unmention- 
able crime  and  was  never  interdicted;  of  that  other  dignity 
whose  conquests  were  so  numerous  in   Montreal  that  the 


436  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

ground  became  too  hot  for  him,  and  who  was  not  interdicted 
but  kindly  invited  to  go  to  another  place;  the  history  of 
that  good  Bishop,  also,  who,  for  five  years  kept  a  fine  young 
man  in  his  house  as  his  confidential  friend,  and  who  had  to 
send  that  faithful  servant,  with  five  hundred  pounds,  to  the 
United  States,  when  a  very  interesting  circumstance  proved 
that  the  fine  young  man  was  a  fine  young  girl!  '  Honi  soit 
qui  mal  y  pense.'  I  was  also  tempted  to  give  to  the  public 
some  very  interesting  details  from  the  memoirs,  not  of  poor 
Father  Chiniquy  (though  he  has  some  memoirs  also),  but 
from  the  memoirs  of  one  of  the  most  respectable  Bishops  of 
Rome,  Bishop  de  Riccy,  where  it  is  often  said  and  proved 
'  that  the  nuns  of  Italy  are  the  wives  of  the  priests. ' 
Happy  celibataries  indeed!  I  had  some  very  interesting 
things  also  which  you  have  known,  no  doubt,  of  those  three 
good  priests  in  a  diocese  not  many  miles  from  here,  who 
made  a  very  interesting  voyage  with  three  young  ladies,  and 
were  so  kindly  treated  by  the  holy  Church  of  Rome,  that 
one  of  them  is  now  hearing  the  confessions  of  the  good  nuns 
of  the  City  of  Three  Rivers,  and  the  two  others  are  in  a  very 
exalted  position  in  the  diocese  of  Montreal. 

"  My  intention,  after  having  given  you  the  correct  history  of 
those  respectful  and  venerable  priests  of  Rome,  was  to  ask 
you,  in  a  friendly  way,  without  bitterness,  why  the  Bishops 
should  have  been  so  hard  against  me,  when  they  were  so  kind 
to  others? 

"  No  living  man  knows  better  than  I  do  the  clergy.  I  have 
been  fifteen  years  traveling  amongst  them.  I  have  seen 
the  inside  as  well  as  the  outside  of  your  walls.  For  many 
years  I  have  been  a  serious  observer  of  men  and  things ;  and 
everyday  I  have  put  down  in  my  note^book  that  which 
would  make  many  knees  shake  in  the  midst  of  the  priests  of 
Rome.  I  do  not  say  that  they  are  all  wicked  and  depraved. 
Thanks  be  to  God  I  have  found  among  them  men  who  would 
have  been  almost  as  pure  as  angels,  if  the  confessional  had 
not  been  there  as  a  snare  to  pollute  their  noble  hearts.      But 


A   Dastardly  Attack  Answered  437 

I  have  known  enough  to  startle  the  world,  if  I  had  not  more 
charity  for  my  old  friends  of  Rome  than  many  of  them  have 
shown  to  me,  since  God  in  His  infinite  mercy  has  given  me 
the  light  and  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  If  you  honour  me 
with  an  answer,  I  will  be  proud  and  happy  to  meet  you  as  a 
gentleman  on  some  of  those  high  grounds  of  historical  and 
theological  truths  and  errors  about  which  we  differ.  But 
give  up  that  unmanly  and  unchristian  way  (which  is  too 
much  the  use  of  Roman  Catholics)  of  speaking  of  the  real  or 
supposed  sins  of  an  opponent.  We  are  all  more  or  less  great 
sinners,  and  are  too  apt  to  see  the  straw  in  the  eyes  of  our 
poor  neighbour,  while  we  do  not  see  the  beam  which  is  in 
our  own. 

"  Though  you  have  been  a  little  hard  on  your  old  country- 
man, I  feel  grateful  to  you  for  having  given  me  the  opportu- 
nity of  explaining  many  things  which  I  hope  it  will  be  good 
to  my  friends  to  hear. 

"  Now,  farewell,  au  revoir.  Allow  me  to  call  myself  your 
fellow=sinner  and  your  devoted  brother  in  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XL 

Futile  Efforts.      Priest's  Efforts  to   Reach  My  Bed  of  Sickness  FfustratetL 
Challenge  to  Archbishop  not  Accepted 

After  a  month  of  hard  missionary  labour  in  New  England, 
during  the  fall  of  1894,  having  caught  cold,  I  returned  to 
Montreal  quite  exhausted  and  sick,  and  consequently  was  laid 
up  for  nearly  two  months. 

During  that  long  illness  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  made 
special  efiForts  to  reach  my  bed,  in  order,  evidently,  to  have 
some  seeming  pretext  or  ground  to  announce  to  the  public 
that  I  had  become  reconciled  to  their  Church.  But  their 
plan  failed. 

Suspecting  what  might  happen,  I  had  given  strict  orders, 
as  I  generally  do  in  such  cases,  not  to  allow  any  priests  or 
their  agents  to  enter  my  room. 

One  day,  however,  in  October,  a  lady  by  the  name  of  De 
la  Ronsseliere,  of  very  respectable  appearance,  presented 
herself  at  the  door  of  my  house,  and  in  a  polite  note  begged 
an  audience  with  me.  As  she  seemed  so  much  in  earnest, 
and  persistent,  her  request  was  granted.  When  ushered  into 
my  room,  where  my  wife,  one  of  my  daughters  and  a  friend 
were  present,  she  asked  to  be  allowed  to  see  me  alone.  I  told 
her  that  I  did  not  wish  to  hear  anything  that  she  could  not 
tell  me  in  the  presence  of  my  family  and  that  friend.  Mean- 
while, the  door=bell  rang  again;  and  on  opening,  the  servant 
saw  a  priest  who  seemed  to  be  in  a  great  hurry,  and  who  said 
at  once: — "  Is  there  not  a  lady  who  has  just  come  in?  Please 
take  me  where  she  is;  I  must  see  her  immediately."  But  the 
faithful  servant  said  she  could  not  do  that,  and  directly  she 

188 


Futile  Efforts  439 

called  my  son=in=law,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Morin,  who  on  coming 
downstairs  found  himself  face  to  face  in  the  hall  with  a  stout, 
jovial  priest.  "  I  am  Abbe  Marre  of  Notre  Dame  Church,"  he 
said,  "  and  as  I  have  heard  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  very  sick, 
I  thought  I  would  stop  and  see  him;  for  we  do  not  forget  that 
he  is  a  priest,  and  as  such,  he  is  considered  to  belong  to  our 
parish."  Mr.  Morin  told  Abb6  Marre  about  the  strict  orders 
I  had  given  not  to  allow  any  priest  to  come  into  my  room, 
— but  that  he  would  be  welcomed  should  he  call  on  me  when 
I  had  recovered. 

Meanwhile,  Miss  De  la  Rousseliere  was  entreating  me  to 
pray  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Holy  Church, 
and  to  accept  the  ministry  of  a  priest,  etc.  I  told  her  that 
Christ  was  sufficient  for  me;  He  was  my  only  Saviour  and 
my  only  Mediator,  and  that  I  had  no  need  of  the  intervention 
of  any  priest;  that  I  had  a  horror  mingled  with  pity  for  those 
poor  slaves  of  the  Pope. 

On  hearing  that,  she  rushed  out  of  the  room  and  went 
down  double  quick  where  she  met  Abb6  Marre,  and  quite  ex- 
cited, exclaimed:  "Oh  Monsieur  le  cur6,  do  not  go  to  see 
him;  he  says  he  has  a  horror  for  your  black  gown!"  The 
priest  began  to  laugh,  and  went  out,  leaving  the  witnesses  of 
that  scene  under  the  firm  impression  that  the  whole  thing  had 
been  planned  beforehand,  but  that  the  plot  had  been  victori- 
ously defeated. 

Soon  after  that  clerical  stratagem,  I  was  besieged  by  other 
zealots  of  the  Pope,  especially  women,  whose  avowed  aim  was 
my  return  to  the  Church  of  Rome, 

As  all  these  attempts  failed,  the  Jesuits,  who  consider  them- 
selves, and  rightly  so,  the  shrewdest  servants  of  the  Pope, 
thought  they  should  also  try  their  hand  at  my  conversion. 
So  they  set  about  it,  using  likewise  a  woman  for  their  agent, 
pretending  that  through  her  I  had  asked  for  their  spiritual 
assistance;  all  this  appears  in  the  two  letters  I  here  insert, 
The  first  one  was  addressed  to  me  on  the  4th  of  November  by 
Father  Hamon,  being  as  follows: 


440  Forty   Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

"  College  St.  Marie,  Montreal. 
"  Dear  Sir: 

"Mrs.  F.  X.  Trudel  tells  me  that  you  would  gladly 
receive  the  visit  of  a  father  Jesuit,  and  she  has  shown  me 
an  envelope  signed  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Morin,  appointing  for  an 
interview  the  first  Sunday  of  November  at  half  past  two 
o'clock. 

"  Unfortunately  at  that  hour  I  must  preside  at  a  meeting 
of  the  Catholic  Union;  but  if  it  is  convenient  for  you,  I  can 
be  at  your  place  at  half=past  four. 

"  Yours  truly, 
"  G.  J.  M.  Hamon,  S.  J." 

Mr.  Morin,  on  receipt  of  the  Jesuit's  letter,  perceiving  that 
Rev.  Mr.  Hamon  had  been  apparently  misled,  wrote  at  once 
the  following  reply: 

"65  Hutchison  St.,  Montreal,  Nov.  5,  1894. 
"  To  Rev.  G.  J.  M.  Hamon,  S.  J.,  College  St.  Marie, 
"Sir: 

"  Mr.  Chiniquy  requests  me  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter,  and  to  tell  you  that  he  never  expressed  to  Mrs. 
Trudel  the  desire  to  receive  the  visit  of  a  father  Jesuit  dur- 
ing his  sickness;  on  the  contrary,  he  told  that  lady  last  Satur- 
day that  it  was  sufficient  for  him  to  have  the  presence  of 
Jesus;  that  he  had  no  need  of  the  presence  of  a  Jesuit  to  die 
in  the  full  assurance  of  his  salvation. 

"  As  to  that  interview  I  am  said  to  have  appointed  for  the 
first  Sunday  of  November,  here  is  the  fact  about  it.  That 
good  Mrs.  Trudel,  who  has  put  forth  a  great  deal  of  untimely 
zeal  to  bring  us  back  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  began  to  extol  to 
me  last  Sunday  the  great  advantages  of  ecclesiastical  celibacy. 
I  then  took  the  liberty  to  allude  to  the  several  irregularities 
and  disorders  occasioned  in  all  ranks  of  papal  hierarchy  by 
compulsory  celibacy,  and  I  further  pointed  out  to  her  that 
the  Apostle  Peter   was   married,   that   the   Roman  Catholic 


Futile  Efforts  44 1 

clergy  followed  his  example  in  that  respect  during  several 
centuries,  and  that  there  are  even  to=day  Roman  Catholic 
priests  who  have  their  legitimate  wives.  All  these  assertions 
of  mine  appeared  to  her  as  so  many  errors  and  heretical 
propositions,  that  I  could  not  defend  in  the  presence  of  a 
priest  or  a  Jesuit,  she  said.  '  As  well  as  in  your  presence,'  I 
replied.  '  In  that  case,'  she  added,  '  will  you  allow  me  to 
bring  here  a  Jesuit  next  Sunday  to  discuss  those  questions 
with  you?'     '  I  have  no  objection  if  you  wish  it,'  I  answered. 

"  She  then  asked  me  to  write  on  an  envelope,  which  she 
held  in  her  hand,  the  day  and  hour  of  that  meeting  and  to 
sign  my  name,  '  for  I  fear  that  my  memory  would  fail  me,' 
she  said.  This  I  did.  But  you  see  that  Mr.  Chiniquy  is  not 
involved  in  any  way  in  all  this  afiPair,  and  I  do  not  conceive 
how  Mrs.  Trudel  could  mislead  you  so  much  as  to  tell  you 
that  it  was  Mr.  Chiniquy  who  had  appointed  an  interview 
with  you. 

"However,  if  you  are  very  anxious  to  know  what  Mr. 
Chiniquy  thinks  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  what  faith  and  joy 
he  possesses  in  his  Divine  Saviour,  you  have  only  to  tell  me, 
and  when  he  is  well  enough  I  will  notify  you. 

"  Of  course  I  am  disposed  to  defend  the  propositions  which 
have  horrified  that  poor  Mrs.  Trudel,  and  should  you  wish  to 
come  for  that  purpose,  I  would  ask  you  to  choose  another 
day  than  next  Sunday,  for  I  will  then  be  engaged. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  J.  L.  MOEIN." 

To  be  sure  that  this  letter  would  reach  its  destination,  Mr. 
Morin,  accompanied  by  a  friend,  took  it  himself  to  the 
St.  Mary's  college  and  gave  it  to  the  doorkeeper  of  that 
institution,  who  said  that  Father  Hamon  was  in,  and  that  he 
would  deliver  it  to  him  personally, 

We  thought  that  we  had  heard  the  last  of  that  affair,  but 
we  were  mistaken.  True  to  his  promise  in  his  note.  Father 
Hamon  called  on  Sunday  at  half  past  four — to  see  me  accord- 


442  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

ing  to  the  appointed  engagement,  he  said.  When  told  by 
Mr.  Morin  that  he  had  written  him  a  letter  explaining  all,  he 
said  that  he  had  not  received  it,  that  the  messenger  must  have 
miscarried  it.  "  But  I  left  the  note  myself  at  the  college," 
said  Mr.  Morin.  After  such  a  hit,  an  ordinary  man  would 
have  lost  his  countenance:  Father  Hamon  was  not  disturbed  by 
so  little.  After  a  very  amicable  conversation,  he  took  leave  of 
Mr.  Morin,  excusing  himself  for  the  intrusion — and  feeling, 
doubtless,  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy,  even  in  the  conver- 
sion of  heretics. 

When  God  in  His  mercy  had  restored  me  to  health,  I 
thought  it  was  my  duty  to  send  to  the  Archbishop  of  Montreal 
the  following  letter,  which  appeared  also  in  the  press  at  the 
time: 

"  Montreal,  65  Hutchison  St.,  December  8,  1894. 
"  To  My  Lord  Fabre,  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of    Montreal. 
"My  Lord:— 

"Your  besieging  me  with  your  priests  and  priestesses 
during  my  last  sickness  is  the  reason  for  my  addressing  you 
this  letter. 

"  I  am  perfectly  cured,  my  lord:  my  bodily  strength  is  so 
perfectly  restored  that  I  write  you  this  letter  without  the  use 
of  any  spectacles,  and  my  hand  does  not  shake  more  than 
when  I  was  only  thirty  years  of  age,  though  I  am  in  my 
eighty=sixth  year. 

"  Yes,  my  lord,  I  am  cured,  perfectly  cured,  though  I  have 
not  had  a  single  drop  of  your  waters  of  Notre  Dame  de 
Lourdes  and  without  going  to  the  good  St.  Anne  de 
Beaupr6! 

"  I  am  cured,  in  spite  of  the  maledictions  and  excommuni- 
cations of  the  Bishops  and  the  priests  of  Rome! 

"And,  what  will  puzzle  you  the  more,  I  am  cured,  perfectly 
cured,  without  having  accepted  any  one  of  your  medals  or 
scapularies — without  even  having  bought  anj^  of  your  blessed 
candles  which  I  might  have  bought  from  you  for  fifteen  cents. 


Futile  Efforts  443 

"  But  to  prevent  you  from  suspecting  that  the  devil  alone 
or  some  witches  could  have  healed  such  a  bad  man  as  I  am,  I 
must  give  you  the  secret  of  that  cure. 

"  May  our  merciful  God  grant  that  you  may  have  recourse 
to  the  same  remedy  with  the  multitudes  of  our  dear  country- 
men you  are  leading  in  the  perishing  ways  of  Rome. 

"  From  the  very  day  that  I  broke  the  chains  which  were 
tying  me  to  the  idols  of  the  Pope,  I  put  myself  under  the 
care  of  the  best  Physician  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

"His  name  is  Jesus! 

"  He  is  both  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man. 

"  He  came  from  Heaven  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago,  to  save  us  from  all  our  spiritual  and  even  bodily  miseries. 

"  But  His  condition  was,  that  those  who  wanted  to  be  cured 
by  Him,  should  not  invoke  any  other  name  but  His  own. 
For  His  Apostle  Peter  wrote  in  His  Testament  those  very 
words — '  There  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men  whereby  we  must  be  saved.'    Acts  4: 12. 

"  His  Testament  is  called  '  The  Gospel.' 

"These  last  eighteen  hundred  years,  all  the  echoes  of 
heaven  and  earth  are  repeating  His  sweet  words: — '  Come  unto 
Me,  all  ye  who  are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.' 
Matt.  11:28. 

" '  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  His  name,  that  will  I  do, 
that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in  the  Son.'     John  14: 13. 

"  *  If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  My  name,  I  will  do  it.' 
John  14:14. 

"'If  a  man  love  Me  he  will  keep  My  words;  and  My 
Father  will  love  him,  and  We  will  come  unto  him,  and  make 
Our  abode  with  him.'    John  14:  28. 

"  'I  am  the  True  Vine;  ye  are  the  branches. 

"'Abide  in  Me,  and  I  in  you.'     John  15: 1,  2,  3,  4. 

"'If  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  I  will  draw  all  men  to 
Me.'    John  12: 32. 

"  From  the  day  I  gave  up  the  Pope  to  follow  Christ,  I  have 
found  more  and  more  every  day  that  the  greatest  joy,  the 


444  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

greatest  happineBS  in  this  world,  is  to  love  and  serve  Him. 
I  have  kept  myself  then  united  to  Him  with  all  the  faculties 
of  my  heart  and  my  soul,  as  being  my  only  Light,  my  only 
Strength,  my  only  Wisdom,  and  I  have  always  found  Him 
true  to  His  promises. 

"But  when  I  found  that  it  was  good  to  be  united  to  that 
mighty  and  merciful  Friend  in  the  days  of  prosperity,  I  have 
found  that  it  was  still  more  to  my  interest  to  be  united  to  Him 
in  the  days  of  trial  through  which  I  had  to  pass. 

"  He  was  my  Shield  when  I  was  attacked  by  the  thousands 
of  assassins  whom  you  or  your  priests  have  so  often  sent  to 
take  away  my  life,  either  with  their  pistols,  or  with  their 
murderous  sticks,  or  with  their  sharp  stones. 

"  When  those  stones  were  falling  upon  me  as  hail  in  a 
stormy  day,  in  the  streets  of  Montreal,  Quebec,  Halifax, 
Charlottetown,  Antigonish,  Ottawa,  etc.,  I  was  throwing 
myself  into  the  arms  of  that  mighty  and  loving  Friend,  I  was 
pressing  myself  on  His  heart,  and  I  felt  secure  as  a  little 
child  when  in  his  loving  mother's  arms.  I  was  invoking  His 
Almighty  Name,  and  it  seemed  I  was  feeling  His  merciful 
arms  around  me  to  protect  me.  I  was  hearing  His  sweet 
voice  telling  me :  *  Fear  not,  I  am  with  thee ! ' 

"  And  when  I  was  escaping  from  my  would4ie  murderers' 
hands  bruised,  wounded,  bleeding,  I  felt  happy  for  having 
suffered  something  for  the  sake  of  that  beloved  Saviour  who, 
on  the  cross,  had  shed  His  blood  for  me. 

"  But  it  is  when  I  was  attacked  by  the  last  terrible  sickness 
that  I  felt  the  necessity  of  having  that  mighty  and  merciful 
Friend  near  me  as  my  Physician.  With  Peter  I  cried, '  Lord, 
save  me.' 

"  And  you  may  come  and  see  with  what  merciful  and  mighty 
hand  He  has  come  to  my  help  and  cured  me! 

"  You  may  readily  imagine  my  surprise  and  sadness  when 
at  that  very  time  I  saw  your  priests  and  priestesses  coming 
to  tell  me  that  I  was  out  of  the  way  of  salvation,  and  that  I 
was  to  be  damned  if  I  would  not  come  back  to  the  Church  of 
Rome,  of  which  you  are  a  Bishop. 


Futile   Efforts  445 

"For  what  had  these  priests  of  Rome  to  give  me  to  take  the 
place  of  that  Divine  Friend  and  Physician,  Jesus,  the  Son  of 
God,  that  I  might  forget  that  He  was  my  only  Hope,  my  only 
Life,  my  only  Saviour,  my  only  Refuge? 

*'  What  did  they  oflPer  me  to  prevent  me  from  saying  with 
Paul:  '  I  do  not  want  to  know  any  other  but  Jesus  and  Him 
crucified'? 

**They  had  nothing  but  a  few  rags,  called  scapularies,  and 
some  idols  of  copper,  iron  and  silver,  probably  found  in  the 
crumbling  remains  of  the  temples  of  Venus,  Minerva,  Bacchus 
and  Jupiter! 

"  Yes!  what  had  your  priests  to  give  me  that  I  might  forget 
and  forsake  that  dear  Saviour  Jesus,  whose  presence  in  my 
heart  was,  very  often,  making  me  so  happy  that  I  was  not 
only  forgetting  my  terrible  sufferings,  but  was  changing  those 
sufferings  into  feelings  of  unspeakable  joy? 

"  They  had  to  offer  me  a  little  god,  only  about  one  inch  in 
diameter,  made  with  a  little  cake  baked  by  their  servant  girls 
between  two  heated  irons. 

"  Be  not  surprised,  then,  if  I  have  repelled  those  ambassa- 
dors of  Rome  with  the  utmost  indignation  and  pity. 

"  Here,  my  lord,  allow  me  a  few  remarks. 

"  Since  more  than  thirty  years  that  I  separated  myself  from 
the  Church  of  Rome,  I  have  hardly  been  a  single  day,  when 
in  good  health,  without  asking,  supplicating,  even  challeng- 
ing you  and  your  priests  to  come  and  show  me  what  you  call 
my  errors. 

"Thousands  of  times  I  have  told  you  that  I  would,  with 
pleasure,  go  back  to  the  feet  of  your  Pope  and  submit  myself 
to  his  authority,  if  you  had  the  kindness  to  show  me,  before 
the  world,  that  the  Apostle  Peter  has  ever  been  in  Rome,  that 
the  present  Pope  is  his  legal  successor,  and  that  Peter  with 
all  your  !Popes  has  received  from  Christ  the  power  to  rule 
over  His  whole  Church. 

"I  have  requested  you  many  times  and  I  do  request  you 
again  to-day,  to  show  me,  in  a  public  conference,  that  your 


44^  Forty  Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

Auricular  Confession  is  a  sacrament  established  by  Christ, 
and  that  it  has  been  always  practised  as  it  is  to-day  in  your 
Church;  and  I  pledge  myself  to  show,  from  the  authority 
of  your  best  Roman  Catholic  authors,  that  it  is  of  pagan 
origin,  and  that  it  is  in  use  in  your  Church  only  since  the 
dark  ages. 

"  In  that  public  conference,  I  will  also  ask  you  to  show  me 
the  text  of  the  Gospel  which  allows  you  to  let  the  poor  people 
burn  in  the  flames  of  purgatory,  because  they  have  no  money, 
when  you  so  quickly  draw  out  of  that  burning  furnace  the 
rich,  who  fill  your  hands  with  the  gold  which  very  often  they 
have  stolen  from  those  very  poor  people. 

"  I  will  have  another  favour  to  ask  you  in  that  public  con- 
ference. 

"It  will  be  to  show  me  a  Gospel  text  wliich  allows  you 
to  send  to  hell,  as  guilty  of  a  mortal  sin,  the  poor  man 
who  in  Lent  has  eaten  a  piece  of  pork  not  bigger  than  my 
thumb,  and  that  you  allow  him  to  go  to  heaven  as  a  true  Chris- 
tian, if  he  eats  that  piece  of  pork  when  it  is  melted  in  his  soup, 

"  When  at  that  conference,  I  will  also  ask  you  to  show  me 
the  text  of  the  Gospel  which  authorizes  you  to  advise,  if  not 
to  force,  so  many  men  and  women  (priests,  monks,  and  nuns) 
to  make  vows  of  celibacy,  and  to  promise  they  will  never 
marry,  when  God  Himself  in  the  Bible  is  so  evidently  opposed 
to  such  vows,  as  you  may  see  by  the  following  texts: 

'*  'And  the  Lord  God  said:  It  is  not  good  that  man  should 
be  alone.  I  will  make  him  a  helpmeet  for  him.'  Genesis 
11:18. 

•     "  'To  avoid  fornication,  let  every  man  have  his  own  wife; 
and  every  woman  her  own  husband.'     1  Cor.  7:  2. 

"  *  Now  the  Spirit  speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter 
times  some  shall  depart  from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seduc- 
ing spirits  and  doctrines  of  devils  .  .  .  Forbidding  to 
marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats  which  God 
has  created  to  be  received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which 
believe  and  know  the  truth .'     1  Timothy  4:  1,  2,  3. 


Futile  Efforts  447 

*'  You  have  never  been  brave  enough  to  come  and  discuss 
those  matters  with  me  so  long  as  I  was  in  good  health  and 
able  to  answer  you.  The  only  answer  you  have  given  has 
been  to  send  murderers  with  sticks,  stones  and  pistols  to  kill 
me.  But  as  soon  as  you  hear  that  I  am  so  sick  that  I  can 
hardly  move  my  head  on  my  pillow,  you  become  brave,  you 
besiege  me  with  your  priests  under  the  pretext  of  showing 
me  my  errors  and  bringing  me  back  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 

"  But  do  you  not  fear  that  even  your  schoolboys  will  see 
that  there  is  a  lack  of  courage  in  you?  Will  they  not  feel 
that  you  have  no  confidence  in  your  own  cause? 

"  When  I  was  sick  and  unable  to  argue  with  your  ambassa- 
dors, I  refused  to  see  them.  But  to=day,  thanks  be  to 
God,  I  am  well  and  able  to  meet  and  answer  you;  hence  I 
challenge  you. 

"If  you  were  sincere  in  your  efforts  to  bring  me  back  to 
your  Church,  come  to=day,  and  show  me  my  errors.  I  will 
open  you  the  doors  of  my  house,  and  I  will  be  the  most 
happy  man  to  receive  you  in  my  humble  home,  and  to  give 
you  all  the  honour  and  respect  due  to  your  high  position,  and 
according  to  my  own  personal  esteem  for  you. 

"  We  will  meet  and  discuss  as  true  gentlemen. 

"  Bishops  and  priests  of  Canada,  if  you  grant  me  the  favour 
of  that  public  discussion,  I  will  also  ask  you  to  show  me  the 
text  of  the  Gospel  which  told  you  to  hang  our  heroic  patriots 
of  1837  and  1888. 

"  For  the  French^Canadian  people  have  not  forgotten  that 
it  was  the  desire  of  General  Colborne  to  let  them  live,  when 
the  Bishop  of  Montreal,  Lartigues,  said:     'Hang  them!' 

"You  had  excommunicated  and  cursed  them  before  the 
battles!  As  much  as  it  was  in  your  power,  you  had  tied  and 
paralyzed  their  strong  arms  when  on  the  battle-fields  that 
they  might  not  conquer,  and  not  satisfied  with  that — when 
they  were  defeated,  you  ordered  them  to  be  hanged! 

"  What  crime  had  they  committed,  to  be  so  cruelly,  so 
unmercifully  treated  by  you? 


44^  Forty   Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

"Ah!  they  had  so  much  loved  their  dear  country,  which 
is  yours  and  mine,  that  they  thought  it  worth  shedding  their 
blood  to  make  it  free! 

"The  stern  voice  of  historical  truth  tells  you  that  a  hand- 
ful of  insolent  tyrants  had  taken  the  notion  that  the  French- 
Canadians  were  good  only  to  draw  their  water  and  cut  their 
wood.  More  and  more  every  day  they  were  tramjiling  under 
their  feet  our  most  precious  and  sacred  rights;  they  were  not 
concealing  their  minds,  that  just  as  the  negroes  of  the  South- 
ern States  were  destined  to  serve  their  white  masters,  so  the 
children  of  the  French=Canadians,  conquered  on  the  plains 
of  Abraham,  were  fit  only  to  serve  their  conquerors. 

"  The  only  crime  of  our  heroic  patriots  was  that  they  con- 
sidered it  better  to  die  free  men  than  to  live  slaves. 

"  Has  not  noble  England,  after  the  bloody  days  of  St. 
Charles  and  St.  Eustache,  taken  the  defense  of  our  patriots? 
Has  she  not  applauded  when  her  most  eloquent  parliament 
orators  with  Lord  Brougham,  Lord  Durham,  etc.,  declared 
that  the  French^Canadian  patriots  were  among  the  noblest 
men  of  our  age;  that  they  had  fought  and  died  for  the  de- 
fense of  their  rights — and  to  prove  it,  has  not  that  noble 
English  nation  granted  to  us  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
for  which  those  heroic  countrymen  of  ours  fought  and  died? 

"Are  you  so  blind  and  so  ignorant  of  the  history  of  your 
own  country  as  to  ignore  those  facts? 

"  Among  the  heroes  who  shed  their  blood  in  those  days  for 
you  and  for  me,  there  was  one  who  was  the  bravest  among 
the  brave.  The  pages  of  ancient  and  modern  history  have 
no  record  of  any  more  daring  and  devoted  soldier  of  liberty 
than  Chenier. 

"But  why  is  it  that  the  very  name  of  Chenier  still  fills 
your  hearts  with  fear  and  rage? 

"  Not  satisfied  with  cursing  that  French^Canadian  hero  in 
his  life  and  in  his  death,  you  want  to  degrade  his  memory, 
you  want  his  body  to  be  buried  in  the  open  fields  with  the 
carcasses  of  the  brute  animals! 


Futile  Efforts  449 

"Why  so? 

"  It  is  only  because  the  name  of  that  heroic  patriot  is  for- 
ever mingled  with  the  love  of  liberty! 

"  You  hope  that  by  destroying  the  first  you  will  make  the 
people  forget  the  second,  for  it  is  only  slaves  you  want 
and  only  slaves  you  can  rule. 

"  But  you  are  mistaken. 

"  Wherever  there  is  a  French=Canadian  heart  on  the  bor- 
ders of  oui  majestic  St.  Lawrence  River,  it  beats  with  a  holy 
emotion  at  the  spotless  names  of  Papineau  and  Chenier. 
Every  true  French^Canadian,  in  spite  of  your  ful_iination,  is 
proud  of  having  had  such  an  eloquent  apostle  of  liberty  in 
the  first  one,  and  such  a  heroic  martyr  of  liberty  in  the 
second  one. 

"  In  spite  of  you  the  seeds  of  fraternity,  equality  and 
liberty  which  Christ  has  brought  from  heaven  to  save  the 
oppressed  nations  from  the  hands  of  their  tyrants,  are  bear- 
ing their  blessed  fruits  in  Canada. 

"  Whilst  you  trample  under  your  feet  those  sacred  seeds  of 
liberty,  the  hour  is  coming  fast  when  the  French-Canadian 
people,  with  the  holy  Gospel  in  their  hands,  will  settle  their 
accounts  with  you. 

"  In  that  day  your  high  citadels  will  crumble  in  Canada 
as  they  have  crumbled  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Mex- 
ico, etc. 

"  That  day  the  French'Canadians  will  accept  the  Word  of 
God  to  guide  them;  and  that  Word  will  make  them  free! 

"  Truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

"C.  Chiniquy." 


CHAPTER  XLI 

My  Fourth  and  Last  Visit  to  Europe  in  1896.    The  Challenge  of    Father 
Begue  Accepted.    The  Roman  Breviary.    Discussion  at  Oban 

So  many  Christian  friends  from  England  and  Scotland  had 
of  late  invited  me  to  visit  again  their  country,  that  I  thought 
my  duty  was  to  grant  their  request.  They  wanted  me,  they 
said,  to  help  them  to  fight  the  ritualists,  whose  deploralile 
success  was  more  and  more,  every  day,  a  cause  of  anxiety  to 
the  true  disciples  of  the  Gospel. 

Though  eighty-seven  years  of  age,  my  health  was  so  good 
that  I  thought  the  invitation  of  those  friends  was  the  voice 
of  God. 

After  having  received  from  the  grand  and  noble  Protestant 
Alliance  Society,  through  their  secretary,  Mr.  A.  H.  Guin- 
ness, a  promise  that  they  would  map  out  and  guide  my  tour 
through  Great  Britain,  and  arrange  the  details  of  my  ad- 
dresses on  the  difPerent  subjects  on  which  they  wished  me  to 
speak,  I  took  my  passage  to  England  on  the  steamship 
Laurentian,  the  10th  of  September,  1896.  But  before  leaving 
Canada  I  thought  my  duty  was  to  address  the  following  let- 
ter to  my  countrymen: 

"  The  good  Master  calls  me  again  to  go  and  work  among 
our  Christian  brethren  of  England  for  a  few  months.  But  be- 
fore leaving  the  enchanted  shores  of  our  beloved  Canada, 
allow  me  to  address  a  few  words  to  our  dear  countrymen  of 
every  origin  and  creed  on  the  great  question  of  the  day — the 
separate  schools.  More  than  eighty=seven  years  have  passed 
over  me.  Every  day  of  that  long  experience  has  taught  me  that 
one  of  the  greatest  calamities  which  can  fall  on  a  country  is 
the  separate  schools,  established  under  the  pretext  of  religious 
differences.     If  you  put  the  stupid,  unpatriotic,  unchristian 

150 


Last  Visit  to  Eurpe  451 

walls  of  religious  division  to  separate  the  children  from  each 
other  when  in  the  schools,  it  will  be  as  impossible  to  make  of 
them  a  united,  strong  and  happy  people,  as  it  would  be  to 
make  a  strong  rope  with  grains  of  sand.  Yes,  if  you  allow 
a  part  of  the  children  to  say  to  the  other  part,  born  under 
the  same  skies,  'We  are  too  holy  to  sit  on  the  same  school 
benches  with  you;  we  are  too  holy  to  kneel  before  the  God 
of  heaven  and  earth  with  you,'  you  sow  seeds  of  contempt, 
hatred  and  division  which  will  make  it  absolutely  impossible 
to  reap  the  blessed  fruits  of  unity,  esteem  and  respect  for 
each  other,  without  which  men  are  very  little  superior  to  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  forests.  Yes,  if  you  allow  a  part  of  the 
people  to  say  to  the  people  of  the  other  part  in  the  school, 
'  You  are  so  contemptible  in  our  eyes;  you  are  so  much  the 
enemies  of  God;  you  are  so  completely  damned  that  we  can- 
not allow  our  children  to  breathe  the  same  atmosphere  in  the 
school,  etc,'  you  at  once  form  two  camps  of  implacable  ene- 
mies of  all  your  boys  and  girls,  and  those  implacable  ene- 
mies, when  young,  will,  for  the  greater  part,  remain  implaca- 
ble enemies  when  old.  Those  boys  and  girls  who  will 
never  see,  know  or  love  each  other  when  young,  will  not 
be  likely  to  know  and  love  each  other  when  men  and 
women.  Surely,  no  person  should  be  asked  to  give  up  his 
religion  under  the  pretext  of  sending  his  children  to  school. 
Liberty  of  conscience  is  one  of  the  precious  fruits  of  modern 
civilization — a  fruit  bought  by  too  many  rivers  of  blood  to  be 
given  up  on  any  consideration.  Nothing  must  be  done  or 
said  by  the  teacher  which  may  hurt  the  religious  feelings  of 
any  one  of  his  pupils;  but,  thanks  be  to  God,  there  are  a 
thousand  things  which  are  common  to  all  Christian  denom- 
inations, on  which  the  teacher  can  speak  without  hurting  any 
one's  feelings.  If  any  one  objects  to  the  speaking  on  any 
religious  subject  by  the  teacher,  then  let  the  children  learn 
their  catechism  and  their  Bible  at  home  and  in  their  Sab- 
bath-schools rather  than  go  to  separate  schools  during  the 
week.     But  I  hope  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishops  and 


45-  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

priests  in  Canada  have  received  enough  of  the  bright  light 
of  our  age  to  allow  their  people  to  read  the  Bible,  and  that 
the  time  has  also  come  to  them  to  know  that  they  have  not 
the  right  to  prevent  the  people  from  bathing  in  the  rays  of 
that  grand  and  divine  Light  which  heaven  has  given  to  earth 
— the  Bible.  They  will  not  object  any  more  to  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  the  schools,  provided  the  teacher  will  not  be 
allowed  to  make  any  comments  thereon. 

"  I  have  another  favour  to  ask  my  dear  countrymen  before 
I  leave  my  dear  Canada.  It  is  that  they  go  no  more  to  Rome 
to  ask  the  Pope  how  to  rule  Canada.  Let  the  men  whom  we 
have  selected  to  guide  and  rule  us  give  in  their  resignation 
if  they  do  not  find  themselves  wise  and  learned  enough  to 
fulfil  their  duties.  But  by  no  means  let  us  hear  any 
more  of  consulting  the  Pope  how  to  rule  Canada.  The  Pope 
has  no  more  business  here  in  our  legislative  affairs  than  the 
Emperor  of  Constantinople.  The  Pope  and  the  grand  Turk 
are  two  great  gentlemen,  surely,  but  they  have  business 
enough  at  home  to  be  released  from  the  burden  of  ruling  such 
a  distant  country  as  Canada.  Besides  that,  let  us  remember 
the  white  breeches  of  Mercier!  What  a  price  we  have  paid 
for  those  breeches!  What  disasters  and  humiliations  were 
in  store  for  that  great  patriot  and  all  his  friends,  through 
those  white  breeches! 

"  My  last  request  to  my  kind  friends  is  that  they  pray  for 
me  when  I  will  be  working  in  that  precious  part  of  our 
Lord's  vineyard — Great  Britain.  Let  them  ask  our  common 
Saviour  that  He  may  so  constantly  guide  me  in  everything 
I  will  do  and  say  in  England,  that  it  may  be  all  for  His 
glory  and  the  good  of  the  precious  souls  for  whom  He  suffered 
and  died  on  the  cross." 

After  a  pleasant  voyage  I  reached  England  on  Thursday, 
September  22d.  A  deputation  was  in  readiness  to  re- 
ceive me,  embracing  several  of  the  prominent  oflBcers  of 
the  Alliance.  After  warm  congratulations  had  been  ex- 
changed, I  was  informed  that  the  applications  from  churches 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  453 

and  societies  for  my  services  were  much  more  numerous  than 
could  possibly  be  entertained,  and  that  my  great  age  had 
been  borne  in  mind,  and  that  I  would  not  be  overworked 
while  in  England.  In  my  reply,  I  said:  "That  is  very  kind 
of  you,  but  you  see,  when  I  am  in  Canada  I  am  lecturing  al- 
most daily,  and  when  I  had  so  many  pressing  invitations  to 
visit  England,  I  thought  at  last,  '  Well,  if  it  be  the  Lord's 
will  that  I  should  go  to  England,  I  shall  only  be  doing 
there  what  I  should  do  if  I  remained  in  Canada,  and  the 
voyage  will  do  me  good.'  Although  I  am  convinced  that 
Rome  will  never  again  get  the  upper  hand  in  England,  yet 
you  have  a  battle  to  fight  in  England  against  Romanism,  and 
you  in  England  do  not  know  what  Rome  is,  and  so  I  am 
coming  to  tell  you  that  her  system  is  not  Christianity.  Why, 
when  I  was  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  I  had  to  repeat  the 
following  prayer  from  my  Breviary  '  Mary,  thou  art  the  only 
hope  of  sinners.'  That  is  not  Christianity.  It  is  paganism 
and  idolatry.  The  christ  of  Rome  is  a  false  christ,  and  not 
the  Christ  revealed  in  God's  Word." 

I  could  but  little  anticipate  that  the  few  statements  I  made 
before  these  friends,  and  which  the  press  reported  more  or 
less  correctly,  were  to  have  the  importance  that  circumstances 
gave  them.  As  the  readers  will  see  hereafter,  they  led  to  a 
challenge  of  a  priest  and  an  exciting  controversy. 

On  Wednesday  the  Protestant  Alliance  held  a  reception  in 
the  drawing=room  of  the  National  Club,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  me  a  welcome,  and  of  afPording  an  opportunity  for 
many  old  friends  to  renew  the  acquaintances  formed  on  pre- 
vious visits.  The  drawing-room  was  far  from  large  enough 
to  accommodate  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  had  accepted 
the  invitation. 

Mr.  T.  A.  Denny  occupied  the  chair,  and  after  a  prayer  by 
Canon  McCormick,  he  referred  to  having  presided  for  Pas- 
tor Chiniquy  many  years  ago  in  Exeter  Hall,  when  the  meet- 
ing proved  a  somewhat  stormy  one,  owing  to  the  presence  of 
an  opposing  element  in  its  midst.     He    maintained  that   the 


454  Forty   Years   in  the  Church  of  Christ 

cause  of  Protestantism  was  by  no  means  dead,  and  that, 
tlespite  the  progress  of  Romanism  in  some  quarters,  it  would 
be  a  large  undertaking  to  kill  the  Protestants  to  be  found  in  the 
country.  He  deprecated  the  false  charity  which  was  only 
manifested  on  one  side  and  instanced  the  declaration  of  the 
Pope  as  to  the  "invalidity"  of  Anglican  orders  as  showing  that 
the  demand  of  Rome  is  "  all  or  nothing." 

Mr.  Guinness,  secretary  of  the  Alliance,  read  a  long  list  of 
influential  names  in  clerical,  military  and  other  circles  who 
sympathized  with  the  object  of  the  meeting,  but  were  pre- 
vented from  being  present.  Among  these  were  Archdeacon 
Sinclair,  Canon  Tugwell,  Prebendary  Webb=Peploe,  the 
Duchess  of  Manchester,  the  Countess  Tankerville,  and  Lord 
Roden.  It  was  encouraging  to  see  such  an  intelligent  and 
sympathetic  audience.    In  my  address  I  remarked: 

"  I  do  not  come  as  a  learned  man  or  as  a  teacher,  for  there 
are  very  many  able  to  occupy  such  a  position  better  than  I; 
but  I  come  from  Canada  at  the  request  of  many  English 
friends  to  do  what  I  can  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  English 
people  to  the  dangers  to  which  they  appear  to  be  drifting. 
Not  long  ago,  in  the  United  States,  a  train  heavily  laden 
with  passengers  was  proceeding  at  full  speed  towards  a  bridge 
which  had  just  collapsed.  A  man  who  had  seen  the  disaster 
ran  back  to  stop  the  train.  I  am  like  that  man,  and  my  de- 
sire is  to  do  something  to  prevent  the  country  from  commit- 
ting itself  to  the  broken  bridge  of  Romanism.  For  twenty* 
five  years  I  was  a  priest  in  that  Church,  and  honestly  desired 
to  serve  God.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  all  Roman  Cath- 
olics are  not  honest.  Many  of  them  are  thoroughly  so,  though 
they  are  mistaken,  and,  having  been  brought  up  in  that 
system,  it  requires  almost  a  miracle  to  open  their  eyes  to  their 
true  position.  During  my  stay  among  you  I  hope  to  have 
the  opportunity  of  addressing  meetings  in  many  parts  of  the 
country.  It  is  not  my  desire  to  abuse  Roman  Catholics,  for  I 
have  known  many  noble  and  honest  hearts  among  them,  but 
it  is  our  duty  to  give  the  truth  to  those  who  have   it  not.     I 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  455 

am  sorry  to  find,  so  far  as  my  observation  goes,  that  Protes- 
tants are  too  silent,  and  lose  in  that  way  many  converts  who 
might  be  won  if  as  Christians  they  had  more  zeal.  You  are 
too  much  on  the  defensive.  Do  you  fear  the  future?  Christ 
is  in  the  boat,  though  the  tempest  is  raging,  and  though  the 
machinery  of  the  Romish  Church  may  be  powerful,  yet  '  the 
race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle  to  the  strong,'  but  the 
side  on  which  God  is  will  have  the  victory." 

In  the  midst  of  my  work,  a  letter  containing  a  challenge 
appeared  in  the  Catholic  Times  of  October  2,  1896,  by 
the  Rev.  F.  Begue  of  the  Pro  Cathedral,  Oban.  This  is  the 
letter: 

"  I  read  in  the  Rock  of  September  25th  the  following 
statement  by  Pastor  Chiniquy,  who,  I  understand,  is  on  a 
visit  to  England.  '  You  in  England  do  not  know  what 
Romanism  is,  and  so  I  am  coming  to  tell  you  that  I  know  that 
her  system  is  not  Christianity.'  '  Why,'  continued  the  Pastor, 
'  when  I  was  in  the  Church  of  Rome  I  had  to  repeat  every 
day  the  following  prayer  from  my  Breviary:  Mary,  thou,  art 
the  only  hojje  of  sinners.  That  is  not  Christianity:  it  is 
paganism  and  idolatry,'  Now,  sir,  I  beg  to  challenge  the 
statement  italicized,  and  I  defy  Mr.  Chiniquy  or  any  of  his 
friends  to  give  chapter  and  verse,  i.  e.,  the  place  where  the 
said  prayer  is  to  be  found  in  the  Roman  Breviary,  which  I 
suppose  the  gentleman  in  question  must  have  read  in  by=gone 
days.  And  I  hereby  oflPer  to  hand  over  to  him  a  cheque  on 
the  Nottingham  and  Notts  Bank  for  X150,  being  all  I  pos- 
sess in  this  world,  if  he  can  make  good  his  assertion." 

After  the  challenge  was  read  to  me  the  ofiicers  of  the 
Alliance  thought  it  hardly  possible  that  a  priest  should  issue 
such  a  challenge  if  the  prayer  were  not  in  the  Breviary. 
They  seemed  to  fear  that  I  had  put  myself  in  an  inextricable 
predicament  by  asserting  what  I  could  not  prove.  I  told  them 
that  there  was  just  one  way  by  which  they  could  become  per- 
fectly  sure  about  the  matter,  which  was  to  get  the  book  and 
see  for  themselves.     I  told  them  to  send  for  the  book  and  I 


456  P'orty   Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

would  show  them  the  prayer  addressed  to  Mary — "Quia  tu  es 
spes  unica  peccatorum." 

The  secretary  of  the  Alliance  immediately  sent  to  Wash- 
bourne's  for  a  copy  of  the  Breviary  and  a  copy  was  pur- 
chased that  had  been  issued  in  the  year  1895,  "  Jussu  Editum, 
Clementis  VIII.  Urbani  VIII.  et  Leonis  XIII. 

I  then  told  the  secretary  to  take  the  volume  entitled 
"  Pars  Autumnalis "  and  to  turn  to  page  381,  which  he 
did,  and,  to  his  great  surprise,  as  well  as  that  of  the  other 
friends  present,  read  the  very  words:  "  Quia  tu  es  spes  unica 
peccatorum." 

Seeing  the  prayer  with  their  own  eyes,  the  officers  of  the 
Protestant  Alliance  said  that  they  were  fully  satisfied  that  I 
was  right. 

I  accepted  of  course  the  priest's  challenge,  and  after  subse- 
quent correspondence  with  Mr.  Begue,  I  sent  the  following 
letter  to  the  press: 

"  Protestant  Alliance,  November  5,  1896. 
••  Sir: 

"  In  reply  to  the  Rev.  Father  Begue's  letter,  which  letter 
is  of  the  28th  of  October,  he  states  that  'with  regard 
to  my  challenge  to  him  he  reasserted  his  previous  statement 
as  to  the  prayer  we  priests  are  (falsely)  said  to  be  under  the 
obligation  of  reciting  every   day   *  to  Mary,  our  only  hope.' 

"  I  beg  to  state  that  I  have  not  reasserted  anything  of  the 
kind;  what  I  did  say  was,  that  the  '  Breviarum  Romanum ' 
was  a  prayer=book,  a  part  of  which  the  priests  of  Rome  had 
to  read  every  day;  and  in  the  'Romanum  Breviarum'  these 
words  occur,  in  Latin:  'Thou  art  the  only  hope  of  sinners,' 
which  statement  is  addressed  to  Mary.  The  Rev.  F.  Begue 
must  know  that  there  are  four  volumes  of  the  Breviary — 
Spring,  Summer,  Autumn  and  Winter. 

"  The  challenge  that  I  accept,  as  stated  by  the  Rev.  F. 
Begue,  is  as  follows: 

"  'And  I  defy  Mr.  Chiniquy  or  any  of  his  friends  to  give 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  457 

chapter  and  verse,  i.  e.,  the  place  where  the  said  prayer  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Roman  Breviary,  which  I  suppose  the  gen, 
tleman  in  question  must  have  made  use  of  in  by-gone  days, 
and  I  hereby  offer  to  hand  over  to  him  a  cheque  on  the 
Nottingham  and  Notts  Bank  for  £150,  being  all  I  pos. 
sess  in  this  world,  if  he  can  make  good  his  assertion.' " 

I  should  state  here  that  a  letter  containing  Priest  Begue's 
challenge  had  been  sent  to  clergymen  in  the  districts  in  Eng- 
land where  meetings  were  being  held  in  connection  with  the 
Protestant  Alliance,  no  doubt  with  the  motive  of  discrediting 
my  statements  in  the  eyes  of  the  public.  Priest  Begue  in 
all  probability  had  no  expectation  that  his  challeuge  would 
be  accepted  in  view  of  my  great  age  (it  being  then  in  the 
midst  of  winter),  and  the  great  distance  from  England  to 
Oban,  in  Scotland.  He  did  not  evidently  think  that  he  ran 
any  risk  of  losing  his  ,£150.  under  the  circumstances.  In  this 
he  found  his  mistake;  for  the  Protestant  Alliance  took  imme- 
mediate  steps  to  meet  the  challenger,  and  the  Argyllshire  Hall 
in  Oban  was  secured  for  a  meeting  on  the  17th  of  November. 

As  the  Breviary  is  prominently  named  in  connection  with 
the  Oban  controversy,  most  readers  are  not  supposed  to 
have  a  knowledge  of  it,  except  in  name. 

This  is  the  handbook,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the 
prayer-book  of  the  priests.  There  are  lessons  in  it  for  the 
different  days  of  the  year,  and  every  priest  is  required  to 
devote  considerable  time  to  its  perusal  every  day;  a  neglect 
to  do  that  is  classed  among  mortal  sins,  and  cannot  be  for- 
given except  on  severe  conditions.  This  book  must  have 
a  great  influence  on  the  minds  and  characters  of  the  priests. 
This  is  in  reality  their  Bible.  They  are  bound  to  believe 
everything  in  it  as  infallibly  true.  This  fact  alone  ought  to 
be  sufficient  to  open  the  eyes  of  any  one  to  see  that  Popery 
is  a  system  of  superstition  and  downright  fraud.  Truly  it 
is  a  system  of  lying  wonders.  This  book,  a  modern  writer 
has  remarked,  "  is  the  most  vulnerable  point  of  attack  on  the 
Roman  system,  and  is  really  indefensible." 


458  Forty   Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

This  book  was  sanctioned  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  was 
revised  by  Pope  Clement  VIII.,  and  printed  in  1602  at  the 
Vatican.  In  1631,  Urban  VIII.  revised  it,  and  this  seems  to 
be  the  authentic  Breviary,  which  is  of  course  in  Latin.  It  is 
a  work  of  great  magnitude.  There  are  in  it  biography,  hymns, 
passages  from  the  Psalms,  prayers  and  lessons  covering  all 
the  days  of  the  year.  Miracles,  or  "  pious  frauds,"  constitute  a 
prominent  feature.  An  English  translation  was  made  some 
years  ago  by  the  present  Marquis  of  Bute,  in  two  large  vol- 
umes. The  work  passed  under  the  supervision  of  a  learned 
Jesuit,  to  whom  the  Marquis  expresses  his  obligations.  He 
says  in  his  preface,  "  that  if  the  translation  itself  or  the  foot= 
notes,  should  contain  anything  which  a  faithful  Catholic 
ought  not  to  have  written,  he  has  written  such  passages  inad- 
vertently." 

The  work  contains  many  absurdities  and  lies,  and  any  one 
to  accept  them  must  be  either  dishonest  or  blindly  credu- 
lous, or  I  may  say  insane.  In  it  there  are  things  stated 
which  no  man  using  ordinary  reason  can  accept. 

Let  us  now  mention  a  few  of  these.  Holy  children  spoke 
when  five  months  old.  St.  Philip  Beniti  at  that  age  scolded 
his  mother  for  not  giving  alms  to  some  begging  friars.  Bells 
sometimes  rang  of  their  own  accord  wdien  saints  were  born. 

There  is  quite  an  account  of  St.  Rose,  in  connection  with 
whom  there  were  miraculous  manifestations  from  her  earliest 
childhood.  Her  face  took  the  form  of  a  beautiful  rose.  She 
was  born  in  Lima,  South  America,  in  1586,  and  the  only  na- 
tive of  this  continent  ever  canonized  by  the  Pope.  At  the 
age  of  five  years  she  uttered  a  vow  of  perpetual  virginity! 

The  translation  of  the  story  of  that  saint  by  the  Marquis 
differs  considerably  from  the  original.  A  copy  of  the  passage 
from  the  Latin  is  this:  "Quinquennis  votem  perpetuae  vir- 
ginitatis  emisit."  But  the  translator  gives  her  age  as  fifteen, 
instead  of  five  as  found  in  the  original,  when  she  took  this 
step.  He  either  makes  a  great  mistake,  inadvertently  or  by 
design,  to  make  the  act  seem  more  reasonable.     How  many 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  459 

more  inadvertencies,  mistakes  or  alterations  he  has  made  to 
tone  down  the  absurdities,  it  is  hard  to  say.  St.  Rose  wore 
a  garment  of  rough  haircloth  into  which  she  inserted  small 
pricks.  She  wore  day  and  night  under  her  veil  a  crown, 
the  underside  of  which  was  made  of  pricks.  In  imitation 
of  Katherine  of  Sienna,  she  girded  her  loins  with  a  threes 
fold  iron  chain.  She  had  a  bed  of  knotty  sticks,  and  filled 
the  gaps  with  broken  pieces  of  pottery.  She  lived  in  a 
wretched  hut  and  subjected  herself  to  fastings,  whippings  and 
sleeplessness.  She  was  visited  by  departed  spirits  or  ghosts. 
St.  Reymond  on  one  occasion  being  on  a  certain  island,  and 
wishing  to  go  to  Barcelona,  spread  his  cloak  upon  the  sea 
and  passed  over  the  waters,  accomplishing  the  whole  distance 
of  sixiy  leagues  in  six  hours,  and  finally  entered  his  convent 
through  the  closed  door !  Thirty  miles  an  hour  was  good  speed. 
No  modern  steamships  have  come  up  to  that  yet.  Why  not 
cross  the  Atlantic  Ocean  at  the  present  day  by  some  such  arrange- 
ments and  dispense  with  costly  and  cumbersome  steamships? 
There  is  an  account  of  the  holy  house  of  Lorett  in  Italy, 
which  was  brought  centuries  ago  through  the  air  by  angels 
over  the  seas  from  Jerusalem.  This  was  the  house  in  which 
the  Virgin  Mary  and  Joseph  lived.  This  beats  all  the  mod- 
ern improvements  in  house  moving.  One  saint  stuck  his 
staff  in  the  ground  and  it  developed  into  a  fig4ree  covered 
with  fruit.  One  nun  found  herself  short  of  bread,  having 
only  a  few  crumbs  of  crust,  but  the  fragments  became  loaves 
of  bread  so  that  she  and  those  with  her  had  an  abundance. 
Pope  St.  John  went  on  a  journey  to  Corinth,  and  was  fur- 
nished with  a  horse  by  the  lady  of  a  nobleman,  which  was  her 
favourite  animal.  The  horse  after  being  returned  was  unman- 
ageable, and  kicked  in  the  hands  of  its  mistress  so  violently 
that  she  parted  with  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  Pope.  The  horse 
was  then  perfectly  tractable  with  its  master,  having  become  so 
proud  that  it  would  serve  no  one  of  less  dignity  than  the  Holy 
Father.  St.  Dionysius  was  beheaded  and  walked  off  with  his 
head  under  his  arm  to  Paris,  and  entered  the  present  Abbey 


460  Forty   Years  in   the   Church   of  Christ 

of  St.  Denis  in  that  position.  St.  Jannarius  was  thrown 
into  a  red-hot  furnace,  and  was  not  even  singtid.  The 
next  day  all  the  beasts  of  the  amphitheater  came  crouch- 
ing before  him.  The  body  of  this  saint  once  extinguished 
the  flames  of  Vesuvius.  Rome  ought  to  supply  saints  to  ex- 
tinguish some  of  the  terrible  fires  that  break  out  in  our  great 
cities.  Such  might  bring  millions  into  the  Pope's  treasury. 
Of  course  the  liquefaction  of  the  blood  of  this  patron  saint  of 
Italy  is  not  passed  over  in  the  Breviary.  St.  Francis  de  Paulo 
crossed  the  Strait  of  Sicily  on  a  cloak  taking  another  monk 
as  a  passenger.  St.  Hyacinth,  a  Pole,  prosecuted  a  long  voy- 
age in  a  similar  way,  taking  his  companions  with  him. 

St.  Ferdinand  is  most  highly  praised  for  his  defence  of  the 
Catholic  faith.  The  Breviary  states:  "  This  he  performed 
in  the  first  place  by  persecuting  heretics,  to  whom  he  allowed 
no  repose  in  any  part  of  his  kingdom;  and  for  whose  execution, 
when  condemned  to  be  burned,  he  used  to  carry  the  wood 
with  his  own  hands." 

The  Breviary  records  a  sort  of  penance  which  was  promi- 
nent, and  tended  to  spiritual  purification — that  of  self-flagel- 
lation. This  absurdity  is  strongly  recommended.  The 
greatest  saints  found  the  application  of  scourges  specially 
conducive  to  holiness.  Xavier,  Bernard,  and  many  other 
eminent  saints  were  in  the  habit  of  lashing  themselves. 
Xavier  used  an  iron  whip,  which  at  every  blow  was  followed 
with  copious  streams  of  blood.  Teresa  used  freely  this  kind 
of  purification,  but  she  was  not  satisfied  with  this;  she  some- 
times rolled  herself  on  thorns,  and  the  Breviary  tells  us  that 
the  holy  nun,  by  this  means,  "  was  accustomed  to  converse 
with  God."  Her  body,  we  are  told,  after  her  death  becoming 
"  circumfused  in  a  fragrant  fluid,  remains  till  the  present 
day,  the  undecayed  object  of  worship." 

January  10th  is  the  festival  of  the  identical  chair  used 
by  Peter.  For  many  years  the  chair  was  exposed  for  the 
adoration  of  the  faithful.  In  1662  an  unfortunate  thing 
happened.     While  the  chair  was  being   cleaned   the  twelve 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  461 

labours  of  Hercules  appeared,  so  that  the  genuine  chair  of 
St.  Peter  suddenly  vanished.  The  chair  is  not  now  on 
exhibition,  the  fraud  being  so  barefaced  that  the  material 
thing  had  to  be  kept  out  of  sight. 

In  the  lesson  for  May  26th,  "  St.  Phillip  N6ri  was  so  smitten 
with  the  love  of  God  that  he  continually  languished,  and  his 
heart  boiled  with  such  ardour,  that  when  it  could  not  be  con- 
tained within  its  own  boundaries  the  Lord  wonderfully 
enlarged  his  breast  by  breaking  and  elevating  two  of  his 
ribs." 

Under  the  date  of  December  3d:  "  St.  Francis,  by  the  sign 
of  the  cross,  turned  so  much  salt  water  into  fresh,  that  for 
a  long  time  he  supplied  500  sailors  who  were  at  death's  door 
for  thirst,  and,  being  carried  into  various  countries,  many 
were  cured  by  it." 

January  15th,  we  are  assured,  "  When  Anthony  visited  Paul, 
the  hermit,  in  a  cave  in  the  desert,  he  found  him  dead,  and 
when  he  had  not  an  implement  to  dig  the  ground  for  a  grave, 
two  lions  came  with  rapid  course  from  the  innermost  parts  of 
the  desert  to  the  body  of  the  blessed  old  man  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  was  readily  understood  that  they  expressed 
their  sorrow  in  the  best  way  they  could;  then  eagerly  tearing 
up  the  ground  with  their  paws  made  a  hole  which  would  con- 
veniently hold  the  man."  April  2,  about  Francis  of  Paola,  we 
are  told  that,  "God  was  pleased  to  attest  the  sanctity  of  His 
servant  by  many  miracles,  of  which  the  most  celebrated  was, 
that  being  refused  a  passage  by  sailors,  he  crossed  the  Straits 
of  Sicily  with  his  companions,  on  his  cloak  spread  upon  the 
waves." 

I  might  go  on  multiplying  the  lies  contained  in  the 
Breviary,  which  the  priests  are  bound  to  believe  as  facts. 
The  translation,  which  was  the  result  of  a  work  which  lasted 
several  years  under  the  supervision  of  Father  Swiney  of 
the  Jesuit  order,  is  in  two  volumes,  8  vo,  of  over  1200 
pages. 

The  Breviary  reminds  one  of  the   sacred   books   of   India 


462         Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

which  abound  with  stories  similar  to  those  we  find  in  it 
There  are  the  accounts  of  gods  (saints)  to  be  worshiped, 
abounding  with  superstitious  lies  and  absurdities,  but  no 
greater  than  are  found  in  the  Breviary. 

In  a  1-ong  article  on  Buddhism  in  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica,  the  writer,  in  speaking  of  the  form  of  this  system 
in  Thibet,  makes  a  very  significant  statement:  "  Lamaism,  with 
its  shaven  priests,  its  bells  and  rosaries,  its  images  and  holy 
water,  its  popes  and  bishops,  its  abbots  and  monks  of  many 
grades,  its  processions  and  feast-days,  its  confessional  and 
purgatory,  and  its  worship  of  the  double  Virgin,  so  strongly 
resembles  Romanism  that  the  first  Catholic  missionaries 
thought  it  must  be  an  imitation  by  the  devil  of  the  religion  of 
Christ;  and  that  the  resemblance  is  not  in  the  externals  only 
is  shown  by  the  present  state  of  Thibet — the  oppression  of  all 
thought,  the  idleness  and  corruption  of  the  monks,  the  des- 
potism of  the  government,  and  the  poverty  and  beggary  of 
the  people." 

In  view  of  the  stuff  found  in  the  Breviary,  with  the  stamp 
of  papal  infallibility  which  the  priests  are  required  to 
saturate  their  minds  with  every  day,  their  low  intellectual 
and  moral  grade  is  what  might  be  expected.  It  is  no  wonder 
that  such  men  never  elevate  the  people,  and  the  condition  of 
the  people  in  Italy,  Spain,  Quebec  and  Ireland  is  what  might 
be  expected. 

The  Romish  missionary  goes  forth  with  his  Breviary, 
stuffed  with  superstition,  lies  and  idolatry.  The  Christian 
missionary  goes  out  armed  with  the  Holy  Scriptures,  given 
by  inspiration  of  God. 

I  proceed  now  to  speak  directly  of  the  controversy  at  Oban 
which  had  been  decided  upon.  I  went  to  Oban  and  learned 
that  Father  Begue  refused  to  meet  me.  I  then  suggested 
that  three  arbitrators  should  be  chosen  on  either  side  to  settle 
the  disputed  points.  This  Priest  Begue  refused  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter: 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  463 

"Bishop's  House,  November  17,  10:15  A.  m. 
"Dear  Sir:— 

"  The  very  nature  of  my  challenge,  which  I  hereby  repeat, 
precludes  the  possibility  of  any  discussion  or  controversy  on 
the  point.  It  is  a  mere  matter  of  fact.  On  what  page  of  the 
Breviary  are  the  words  quoted  by  3Ir.  Chiniquy?  The 
meeting  is  to  be  public,  and  I  will  attend  with  Breviary  at 
7:30,  and  on  his  publicly  making  good  his  assertion  I  will 
hand  him  the  cheque.  No  further  correspondence  is  needed 
on  the  subject. 

"  Yours  truly, 

•'  F.  Begue,  Priest." 

He  thus  agreed  to  attend  the  public  meeting  and  prove  his 
point.  At  the  appointed  time  I  attended  the  meeting  accom- 
panied by  deputies  from  the  Scottish  Protestant  Alliance, — 
Mr.  M.  C.  Maughan,  chairman  of  the  directors  of  that  society 
and  the  Rev.  A.  Townshend,  of  St.  Silas  Episcopal  Church, 
Glasgow.  There  were  also  on  the  platform:  Rev.  Alex,  Duff, 
Rev.  Ewan  Macleod,  Rev.  James  Hutchison  and  Rev.  James 
Forbes  Campbell  of  Dunstaffnage,  who  briefly  introduced 
the  proceedings.  Scripture  was  then  read  and  prayer  offered, 
after  which  Mr.  W.  C.  Maughan  read  to  the  meeting  the  terms 
of  the  challenge  which,  he  said,  had  led  me  at  the  great  age 
of  eighty=seven  to  undertake  a  journey  to  Oban;  he  read  also  a 
letter  from  Father  Begue  of  the  same  day's  date,  in  which  he 
said:  "  The  very  nature  of  my  challenge,  which  I  hereby 
repeat,  precludes  the  possibility  of  any  discussion  or  trifling 
with  the  point.  It  is  a  mere  matter  of  fact  on  what  pages  of 
the  Breviary  are  the  words  quoted  by  Mr.  Chiniquy.  The 
meeting  is  to  be  public  and  I  will  attend  with  my  Breviary 
at  7:30,  and  on  his  publicly  making  good  his  assertion  I  will 
hand  him  the  cheque."  Mr.  Maughan  stated  that  Father 
Begue  had  refused  to  attend  a  meeting  specially  called  for, 
at  which  three  arbitrators  on  each  side  who  understood  Latin 


464  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

should  give  their  translation  of  tlie  prayer  which  appeared  in 
the  Breviary,  and,  therefore,  they  brought  the  matter  before 
the  public  meeting. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Begue,  who  ascended  the  platform  carrying 
an  armful  of  Breviaries,  while  Mr.  Maughan  was  speaking, 
said  he  had  read  in  the  Rock  of  the  25th  of  September  my 
words  referred  to,  and  he  had  challenged  the  statement  and 
did  so  again.  They  were  going  to  be  told  by  Mr.  Townshend 
that  there  was  one  passage  in  the  Roman  Breviary,  where  the 
words  occur  in  Latin,  "Maria,  tu  es  sola  spes  peccaforum,^^ 
but  he  would  say — "  these  words  occurred  only  once  a  year,  or 
perhaps  twice.  Mr.  Chiniquy  said  these  words  were  a  prayer, 
and  were  to  be  said  daily  in  the  Roman  Breviary."  That  was 
the  statement  he  challenged,  and  none  else. 

Rev.  Mr.  Townshend  rose  to  reply  to  Rev.  Father  Begue. 
He  said  the  challenge  as  set  forth  in  TJie  Cafholic  Times  was 
different  from  that  set  forth  by  Father  Begue  that  night. 
That  challenge  was,  that  Father  Begue  "  defied  Pastor  Chini- 
quy or  any  of  his  friends  to  give  chapter  and  verse — the 
place  where  the  said  prayer  was  to  be  found  in  the  Roman 
Breviary."  Rev.  Father  Begue  had  also  sent  a  letter  to  Rev. 
Mr.  Macleod  of  Oban,  in  which  he  said:  "  It  is  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  fact  on  what  page  of  the  Breviary  are  the  words  quoted 
by  Mr.  Chiniquy."  He  (Rev.  Townshend)  would  now  read 
from  the  Breviary,  and  as  he  was  only  a  poor  Irishman,  he 
hoped  they  would  listen  to  him  as  he  read  them.  He  had 
with  others  that  morning  visited  Father  Begue,  who  received 
them  most  kindly — and  he  must  thank  Father  Begue  for  the 
courteous  manner  in  which  he  treated  them — and  he  admitted 
that  in  the  Roman  Breviary,  for  the  9tli  of  September,  they  did 
find  words  similar,  quoted  by  Pastor  Chiniquy.  The  rev- 
erend gentleman  then  read  out  of  a  copy  of  the  Breviary  the 
words  referred  to,  upon  which  there  w-as  prolonged  applause. 
If  they  were  not  satisfied  with  his  reading  from  that  Breviary. 
he  could,  he  said,  ri^ad  the  words  from  any  other  they  liked. 
There  were  the  words  as  distinct  as  could  be. 


Last  Visit  to  Europe  465 

Rev.  Mr.  Townshend  added:  "Without  going  into  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  Pastor  Chiniquy  said  every  day  or  not,  I  only 
again  refer  to  the  letter  of  Father  Begue,  who  said  distinctly: 
'I  defy  Mr.  Chiniquy  or  any  of  his  friends  to  give  chapter  and 
verse — the  place  where  the  said  prayer  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Roman  Breviary.'     I  have  done  that." 

Rev.  Father  Begue  again  pressed  his  point  that  the  words 
did  not  occur  daily,  and  that  they  were  in  a  sermon,  not  a 
prayer. 

At  this  stage  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kennedy,  of  Loch  Ranza, 
who  occupied  a  place  at  the  back  of  the  platform,  stepped 
forward  and  asked  permission  to  make  a  remark.  He  said 
they  had  not  come  to  ascertain  whether  the  prayer  was  a 
daily  one  or  not.  They  were  concerned  with  the  substance, 
and  if  Father  Begue  admitted  that  once  a  year  he  prayed — 
"  Mary,  thou  art  the  only  hope  of  sinners,"  that  was  the  crux 
of  the  question,  and  nothing  else. 

Rev.  Father  Begue  said  he  maintained  that  the  words  in 
the  Breviary  were  not  a  daily  prayer.  That  was  the  term  of 
his  challenge.  He  maintained  that  if  the  words  occurred, 
they  were  in  a  sermon  of  St.  Augustine,  and  were  not  a 
prayer.  Now,  as  he  asserted  this  to  be  a  matter  of  fact.  Father 
Begue  started  to  leave  the  platform,  and  said,  "  I  wish  you  good= 
night.  You  won't  have  the  X150."  There  were,  on  his  leav- 
ing the  platform  and  going  out  of  the  hall,  booing,  laughter 
and  cries  of  "  Shame!  Shame!" 

Rev.  Mr.  Townshend  said  he  thought  they  had  the  right  to 
decide  that  I  was  the  victor  in  that  matter.  Father  Begue 
had  said  he  defied  me  and  my  friends  to  give  the  place  where 
the  prayer  was  to  be  found  in  the  Roman  Breviary,  and  said 
if  that  was  done  he  would  hand  over  £150.  "  I  have  shown," 
said  the  reverend  gentleman,  "  that  Pastor  Chiniquy  is 
right  and  'that  Father  Begue  is  wrong,  and  he  has  gone 
and  taken  his  cheque  with  him." 

I  then  spoke,  and  in  the  course  of  my  discourse  I  said  that 
the  X150  was  nothing  to  me;  I  cared  only  about  the  truth.    I 


466  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

showed  my  hearers  that  I  had  offered  through  friends  to 
settle  the  question  with  Father  Begue  in  an  amicable  way, 
but  this  offer  had  been  refused  three  times.  I  had  never 
said  that  the  prayer  was  repeated  every  day;  although  that 
statement  had  appeared  in  the  newspaper,  I  never  said  so. 
There  were  different  prayers  for  every  day,  and  the  same  one 
was  not  said  every  day. 

In  response  the  Kev.  Messrs.  Townshend,  Duff  and  Macleod 
intimated  that  they  had  read  the  prayer  in  question,  in  the 
Breviary. 

Rev.  Mr.  Townshend  in  a  letter  to  one  of  the  public  papers 
a  short  time  afterwards,  gave  the  following  statement:  "On 
receipt  of  this  letter,  arrangements  were  made  for  Father 
Begue  to  attend  the  public  meeting  in  the  Argyllshire  Hall. 
The  terms  of  the  challenge  having  been  stated  by  Mr.  W.  C. 
Maughan,  Father  Begue  endeavoured  to  ccjver  a  retreat  by 
affirming  that  he  offered  the  £150  only  on  condition  that  the 
prayer  could  be  pointed  out  daily  in  the  Breviary.  Produc- 
ing his  own  letter,  I  read  to  the  meeting  his  own  words — '  It 
is  a  mere  matter  of  fact.  On  what  page  of  the  Breviary  are 
the  words  quoted  by  Mr.  Chiniquy?'  I  then  read  from  an 
authorized  edition  of  the  Roman  Breviary  the  following 
prayer,  occurring  on  September  9th : — 'Oheaia  Maria  .  .  . 
accipe  quod  offerimiis,  redona  quod  rogamus,  excusa  quod 
timemus;  quia  tu  es  spes  unica  peccatorum.'* 

"  And  I  invited  any  one  in  the  hall  to  inspect  the  passage. 
Without  disputing  the  truth  of  my  assertion.  Father  Begue 
then  left  the  hall.  Pastor  Chiniquy  at  once  proceeded  to 
appeal  to  the  following  gentlemen:  Rev.  E.  Macleod,  Rev. 
A.  Duff,  Rev.  J.  Hutchison,  and  Mr.  W.  C.  Maughan, 
whether  the  prayer  was  to  be  found  in  the  Breviary  or  not. 
These  gentlemen,  representing  different  Churches,  replied  in 
the  affirmative;  and  finally  the  following  resolution  was 
carried  by  acclamation  by  the  whole  meeting:  'This  meet- 
ing is  satisfied  that  Pastor  Chiniquy  has  most  conclusively 
answered  the  challenge  of  Father  Begue,  and  they  are  of  the 


Last  Visit  to  Europe  467 

opinion  that  Father  Begue  is  now  in  honour  bound  to  pay 
over  the  sum  of  X150. '  " 

As  Father  Begue  tried  to  escape  from  his  predicament  by 
quibbling,  I  notice  this  to  show  and  illustrate  the  Jesuitism 
of  the  enemy  we  have  to  deal  with.  His  resorting  to  such 
subterfuges  only  went  to  prove  the  truth  of  what  I  asserted 
in  regard  to  the  prayer  of  the  Breviary. 

As  to  the  fact  of  the  prayer  being  such  and  where  I  as- 
serted, was  as  plain  as  anything  could  be.  This  accords 
with  what  we  find  in  several  of  the  most  prominent  Romish 
books.  "The  Glories  of  Mary,"  by  St.  Liguori,  is  one  of 
these  books  sanctioned  by  the  highest  popish  authorities. 
The  general  drift  of  the  book  accords  with  the  prayer  I  have 
proved  to  be  in  the  Breviary.  I  might  give  almost  any  num- 
ber of  passages  to  show  this.  This  writer  represents  John 
Damascus  as  thus  addressing  Mary:  "Oh  lady,  in  thee  I 
have  placed  all  my  hope  and  my  firm  confidence.  I  look  to 
thee  for  my  salvation."  St.  Thomas  is  represented  as  saying 
that,  "  Mary  is  all  the  hope  of  our  salvation."  St.  Ephrem 
prays,  "  Oh  most  holy  Virgin,  receive  us  under  thy  protection, 
if  thou  wilt  see  us  saved,  since  we  have  no  other  hope  of 
being  saved  but  through  thee." 

St.  Liguori  writes  further:  "Do  you  not  know  that  she 
(Mary)  is  the  only  city  of  refuge,  and  the  only  hope  of  sin- 
ners?" St.  Augustine  has  called  her  "  the  only  hope  of 
sinners";  "  Unica  spes  peccatorum."  He  speaks  in  another 
place  of  a  red  ladder  upon  which  Jesus  Christ  was  standing, 
and  a  white  one  upon  which  was  His  holy  mother.  The  per- 
sons who  attempted  to  ascend  the  red  ladder  rose  a  few  steps, 
and  then  fell;  they  ascended  again,  and  again  fell.  When 
they  were  exhorted  to  ascend  the  white  ladder  and  obeyed, 
they  succeeded,  for  the  Blessed  Virgin  offered  them  her  hand 
and  took  th6m  directly  into  paradise. 

A  volume  might  be  filled  with  similar  statements  from 
Romish  writers. 

The  attempt  of  Father  Begue  to  escape  by  saying  that  the 


468  Forty   Years   in   the  Church  of  Christ 

idea  asserted  in  the  prayer  is  found  in  a  sermon  by  St. 
Augustine,  borders  on  the  ludicrous.  If  the  power  ascribed 
to  Mary  in  a  prayer  is  ascribed  to  her  in  a  sermon,  it  is  a 
doctrine,  and  such  a  prayer  would  be  consistent  with,  and 
based  upon  the  doctrine.  It  is  not  likely  that  Augustine  had 
advanced  so  far  towards  pojiery  that  he  taught  any  .such  doc- 
trine or  prayer.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  what  is  ascribed  to 
him,  is  endorsed  in  the  Breviary  as  infallible. 

I  quote  a  passage  from  the  "  Banner  of  the  Covenant "  that 
is  here  in  point: 

" The  most  stirring  incident  of  his  visit  (Dr.  Chiniquy's) 
was  connected  with  a  challenge  sent  by  a  Father  Begue  of 
Oban,  to  prove  in  the  Roman  Breviary  the  use  of  the  blas- 
phemous expression,  '  Because  thou  art  the  only  hope  of 
sinners,'  etc.,  with  a  prayer  to  the  Virgin.  The  existence  of 
the  words  was  proved,  the  priest  himself  admitling  it  in  one 
or  two  places.  The  meeting  declared  Chiniquy  the  victor, 
and  entitled  to  the  £150  which  the  priest  was  to  give  him  if 
successful.  But  Begue  gathered  up  his  Breviaries  and  dis- 
appeared with  the  money.  The  discussion  has,  however, 
created  considerable  interest  in  Oban,  and  friends  there, 
greatly  astonished  to  find  such  blasphemous  sentiments 
attributed  to  the  great  Augustine,  Bishop  of  Hippo,  desired 
us  to  verify  the  words.  It  was  certainly  a  very  difficult  task 
to  search  for  these  words  in  twelve  huge  Latin  folio  volumes. 
A  slight  reference  to  Dr.  Pusey's  Eirenicon  attributed  the 
expression  to  sermon  eighteen,  by  this  Father.  The  ordinary 
editions  of  his  works  are  no  help,  but  on  referring  to  the  best 
and  most  reliable,  that  edited  by  the  Benedictine  Fathers  at 
Louvain,  there  was  a  surprise.  Where  sermon  eighteen  was 
to  be,  there  was  a  blank.  It  was  found,  however,  in  an  appen- 
dix and  numbered  194.  It  was  removed  as  spurious  from 
the  authentic  works  of  the  Father,  the  learned  editors  add- 
ing a  note  that,  '  in  the  judgment  of  the  Louvainenses,  it  is 
the  work  of  an  uneducated  man.'  " 

Thus  another  fraud  is  laid  bare,  not  by  Protestants,  but  by 


Last  Visit  to  Europe  469 

Benedictines,  on  which  the  idolatry  and  superstition  of  the 
Roman  Breviary  is  built  up.  It  may  interest  others  as  well 
as  friends  in  Oban. 

The  Oban  debate  resulted,  under  God,  in  a  grand  triumph 
for  the  cause  of  truth.  I  can  see  the  hand  of  my  Heavenly 
Father  in  it.  The  influence  of  it  for  good  was  manifested 
not  only  in  Scotland,  but  in  Ireland  and  England.  The 
hand  of  the  same  God  that  was  in  the  struggles  of  Luther 
and  Knox,  was  shown  in  this.  To  His  name  be  all  the 
glory. 


CHAPTER   XLII 

My  Fourth  and  Last  Visit  to  Europe — Continued.  Severe  Illness  and 
Recovery.  Invitation  to  Lecture  in  Holland  Accepted.  A  Week  in 
Paris.  Germany  Visited.  The  Pulpit  and  Tomb  of  Luther.  Return 
to  Canada.    The  Close  of  this  Book  and  of  Life's  Voyage. 

I  cannot  undertake  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  my  work 
in  Great  Britain  during  my  last  trip  there;  suflBce  it  to  say 
that  eight  days  after  my  arrival,  more  than  a  hundred  invita- 
tions had  been  received  from  my  English  friends,  to  go  and 
deliver  them  the  message  which  the  good  Master  wanted  me 
to  proclaim. 

On  December  22,  1896,  I  had  already  given  eighty=two 
public  addresses  to  multitudes  which  very  often  could  not  be 
accommodated  in  the  large  halls  or  churches  where  I  spoke 
in  London,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh,  Brighton,  etc. 

But  on  December  22d,  after  two  days  of  lecturing  in  Nor- 
wich, it  was  the  will  of  God  to  stop  my  humble  labours 
with  a  severe  cold,  which  kept  me  in  bed  till  April  22d, 
— just  four  months.  Several  times  during  those  months 
my  doctors  told  me:  "We  would  hope  to  cure  you  very 
soon,  if  you  were  not  so  old.  But  with  your  eighty=eight 
years  of  age,  the  best  thing  you  can  do  is  to  prepare  yourself 
for  the  better  life  which  is  in  store  for  the  children  of  God." 

These  words  were  very  wise,  and  I  would  have  been  very 
imprudent  not  to  pay  attention  to  them.  However,  it  was  the 
will  of  God  to  restore  my  health  again,  and  on  April  30th,  I 
was  enabled  to  give  two  lectures,  without  feeling  any  fatigue, 
to  more  than  three  thousand  people,  in  the  immense  Queen's 
Hall  of  London,  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  meetings  of 
the  Protestant  Alliance  of  England. 

But  the  physicians  told  me  that  for  a  thorough  restoration 

470 


Last  Visit  to  Europe  471 

of  my  health,  I  needed  a  change  of  atmosphere,  and  as  I  was 
consequently  contemplating  my  return  to  America,  I  received 
an  invitation  from  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Schouten,  of  Ommeren, 
Holland,  to  visit  his  country,  where  he  said  I  had  many 
friends  desirous  of  hearing  me.  This  invitation,  which  was 
not  in  the  least  anticipated,  seemed  to  me  providential,  afford- 
ing me  the  three^fold  opportunity  of  proclaiming  the  truth, 
of  following  the  advice  of  my  physician  and  of  visiting  that 
interesting  people  whose  grand  history  I  had  so  greatly 
admired,  especially  in  connection  with  the  struggle  for  the 
cause  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  when  the  mighty  and 
tyrannical  Philip  II.  of  Spain  failed  to  crush  that  small  but 
heroic  people.  It  was  then  my  privilege  and  my  unspeakable 
joy  to  address  the  disciples  of  the  Gospel '  who  filled  with 
their  multitudes  the  immense  and  beautiful  churches  of  Rot- 
terdam, The  Hague,  Harlem,  Amsterdam,  Utrecht,  Anhalt, 
Apeldorn,  Leyden.  I  was  thus  lecturing  among  that  most 
hospitable,  kind  and  earnest  people  during  the  whole  month 
of  April,  speaking  sometimes  through  an  interpreter,  and 
part  of  the  time  directly  to  the  audience  in  French  or  in 
English,  many  of  the  people  of  that  country  being  highly 
educated  and  speaking  three  languages.  The  ministers 
seemed  to  vie  with  each  other  to  manifest  tokens  of  respect 
and  friendship. 

I  owe  a  special  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schouten, 
who  put  forth  such  earnest  efforts  for  the  extension  and  suc- 
cess of  my  work,  and  also  to  his  worthy  brother,  a  lawyer 
who  resides  at  The  Hague. 

At  that  time  there  was  quite  a  political  campaign  going  on 
in  Holland.  One  of  the  parties  to  which  the  Romanists  mostly 
belonged,  hoped  to  influence  the  Protestants  that  belonged 
to  another  party  to  join  them,  so  that  they  would  be  sure  to 
win  the  day.  But  in  that  the  Romanists  failed,  and  they 
themselves  ascribed  that  result  to  the  influence  of  my  lec- 
tures. 

But  on  the  31st  of  May,  some  important  affairs  in  the  in- 


47^  Forty  Years  in    the   Church  of  Christ 

terest  of  the  Gospel  having  called  me  to  Paris,  I  was  obliged 
to  go  from  Holland  to  France. 

When  in  that  brilliant  capital  of  the  French  people,  I  had 
the  joy  to  meet  my  daughter  Rebecca  and  her  husband,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Morin,  who  had  come  to  that  great  centre  to  enjoy 
the  educational  advantages  it  affords. 

I  spent  a  week  with  my  dear  children,  and  during  that 
time,  besides  sight=seeing  and  many  visits  to  places  of  in- 
terest, I  addressed  the  Coligny  Society  of  Colonization 
which  is  especially  interested  in  promoting  the  immigration 
of  Protestants  to  Algeria.  By  special  request,  I  spoke  of  my 
colonization  in  Illinois.  My  few  remarks  aroused  patri- 
otic sentiments  among  the  members  of  that  society  when 
they  learned  that  one  of  my  primary  objects  in  founding  that 
colony  was  to  foster  the  interest  of  the  French  nation  in 
America.  I  was,  on  the  spot,  elected  an  honourary  member 
of  the  society. 

One  of  the  most  pleasant  recollections  of  my  short  stay  in 
Paris  this  time  is  the  great  pleasure  I  had  in  meeting  Mr. 
Eugene  R6veillaud,  whom  I  found  to  be  a  most  warm  and 
attentive  friend.  He  took  great  pains  in  entertaining  us  at 
Versailles,  where  he  resides.  He  arranged  for  meetings  upon 
my  return  to  Paris  in  July,  but,  as  it  will  be  seen,  hereafter  I 
could  not  fulfil  these  engagements  on  account  of  previous 
invitations  in  England. 

As  many  German  friends  had  invited  me  to  go  and  visit 
them,  I  left  Paris  on  the  7th  of  June  for  Germany.  The 
next  day  it  was  my  privilege  to  see  and  admire  the  marvelous 
Cathedral  of  Cologne,  and  on  the  9th  of  June  I  enjoyed  the 
Christian  hospitality  of  one  of  the  most  learned  and  pious 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  Germany,  the  Rev.  A.  Schneider, 
in  the  celebrated  city  of  Magdeburg. 

It  is  known  that  that  city  had  been  destroyed  and  entirely 
burned  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  days  of  the  Reformation,  to 
punish  its  inhabitants,  who  had  broken  the  yoke  of  the  Pope 
in  order  to  follow  the  Gospel  which  Luther  had  given  them. 


Last  Visit  to    Europe  473 

But  since  that  time  they  have  rebuilt  it  on  a  more  splendid 
scale. 

A  public  open=air  meeting  had  been  prepared  in  that  city 
to  hear  the  Gospel  message  they  had  asked  me  to  give. 

It  seemed,  at  first,  a  great  imprudence  to  deliver  a 
long  address  in, an  open-air  meeting,  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  city;  but  though  my  address  lasted  an  hour,  no  injury 
came  to  me.  It  was  the  contrary — I  have  never  enjoyed 
better  health  since  I  gave  to  those  multitudes  the  Gospel 
food  my  God  had  ordered  me  to  dispense  to  them. 

The  next  day  it  was  my  joy — my  unspeakable  joy — to  go 
and  visit  the  tombs  where  Luther  and  Melancthon  are  rest- 
ing from  their  labours,  at  Wittenberg.  How  can  I  express 
my  feeling  and  emotion  when  in  that  beautiful  and  cele- 
brated church,  where  the  hero  whom  God  had  chosen  to 
strike  down  the  modern  Goliath,  had  so  often  made  his  thun- 
dering voice  heard! 

No;  no  words  can  tell  what  I  felt  when  in  the  very  pulpit 
of  Luther  I  made  the  echoes  of  the  church  repeat  the  beau- 
tiful words  of  David:  "O  my  soul,  bless  the  Lord,  and  let  all 
that  is  within  me  bless  His  holy  name. " 

It  seemed  I  heard  from  the  tombs  of  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon a  mysterious  voice  uniting  to  mine,  saying:  "O  my 
soul,  bless  the  Lord,  and  let  all  that  is  within  me  bless  His 
holy  name." 

I  would  have  to  say  many  things  about  what  I  have  seen 
with  my  eyes  and  touched  with  my  hands  in  that  celebrated 
city  of  Wittenberg,  the  blessed  cradle  of  the  Reformation; 
but  it  would  be  only  the  repetition  of  the  story  which  all  the 
tourists  have  to  tell  who  have  seen  the  same  city.  However, 
I  may  say  that  I  did  not  like  to  leave  that  historical  spot 
without  carrying  with  me,  as  a  precious  relic,  some  of  the 
earth  I  had  taken  from  the  tomb  of  Luther. 

I  had  to  hasten  my  return  to  England,  as  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Sterling  and  other  friends  had  arranged  for  a  few  lectures 
they  wished  me   to  give  before  my  departure  for  Canada. 


474  Forty   Years    in   the   Church  of  Christ 

My  passage,  with  that  of  my  daughter  and  son  in=law,  was 
secured  for  the  8th  of  July  on  the  "  Parisian."  What  joy  I  an- 
ticipated at  seeing  again  my  dear  and  beautiful  Canada  after 
more  than  ten  months  absence! 

But  before  leaving  England  I  thought  it  proper  to  publish 
an  address  of  farewell  to  my  Christian  friends  there,  together 
with  those  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  part  of  which  I  insert  here: 

"  I  cannot  leave  your  hospitable  shores  without  thanking 
and  blessing  you  for  the  numberless  acts  of  kindness  by 
which  you  have  overwhelmed  me  these  last  ten  months.  Our 
merciful  God  alone  can  pay  the  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe  you, 
May  that  merciful  heavenly  Father  pour  upon  you  the  rich- 
est treasures  of  His  mercies  for  what  you  have  just  done  to 
me,  His  old,  unprofitable  servant. 

"  I  will  not  leave  your  hospitable  shores  without  telling 
you  again:  Beware  of  the  Jesuits!  and  still  more,  beware  of 
the  traitors  in  your  midst  under  the  name  of  Ritualists  or 
High  Church  party!  they  are  the  agents  of  the  enemy  of 
your  liberties  to  bring  England  back  under  the  heavy  and 
degrading  yoke  of  Popery.  If  you  want  to  bequeath  to  your 
children  the  glorious  Gospel  which  your  heroic  ancestors 
have  purchased  with  their  own  blood,  gird  your  loins  and 
fearlessly  prepare  yourselves  to  fight  again  the  battles  of  the 
Reformation. 

"  The  Pope  of  Rome,  with  his  armies  of  Jesuits,  priests, 
nuns,  cardinals,  approaches  you  to=day  with  smiling  lips  and 
honeyed  words, — just  as  Delilah  did  with  Samson, — but  do 
not  forget  how  this  giant  of  old  was  punished  for  trusting 
himself  to  the  perfidious  Philistine  girl. 

"Rome  has  not  changed:  she  cannot  change.  The  Rome 
of  to=day  is  the  Rome  that  planned  the  Gunpowder  Plot, 
built  and  manned  the  '  Invincible  Armada,'  and  reddened 
your  soil  with  the  blood  of  your  noble  ancestors. 

"  But  to  fulfil  your  grand  and  sublime  mission,  it  is  not 
enough  to  fight  Rome;  you  have  something  better  to  do: 
it  is  to  convert  the  Roman  Catholics. 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  475 

"  Do  not  forget  that  you  have  a  whole  nation  in  Canada 
which  God  Almighty  granted  you  to  conquer  that  you  might 
bring  them  to  the  dear  Saviour's  feet.  You  have  already 
done  much  to  help  our  Canadian  missions  to  reflect  the  light 
of  the  Gospel  into  the  midst  of  the  terrible  darkness  with 
which  Popery  has  covered  my  dear  native  country —  Canada. 
But  the  work  is  not  yet  finished.  It  is  true  that  we  feel  an 
unspeakable  joy  when  we  consider  that  there  are  at  least 
30,000  French-Canadian  Roman  Catholics  who  these  last  fifty 
years  have  broken  the  heavy  yoke  of  the  Pope  to  follow 
Christ.  But  we  have  still  more  than  two  millions  who  are  at 
the  feet  of  the  idols  of  Rome,  and  who  are  adoring  a  god  made 
with  a  wafer  baked  by  the  servants  of  the  priests  of  Rome. 

"  Divided  we  perish;  united  we  stand.  Let  us  unite  our 
prayers  as  well  as  our  efforts,  and  the  God  of  the  Gospel  will 
give  us  the  victory  over  the  common  foe.  The  stronghold  of 
Popery  in  Canada  will  be  brought  into  dust,  the  French^ 
Canadian  people  will  be  wrenched  from  the  hands  of  the 
enemy,  and  we  will,  during  all  eternity,  bless  the  Lord  for 
having  granted  us  the  privilege  and  honour  of  doing  some- 
thing for  that  glorious  and  blessed  work." 

After  a  most  enjoyable  voyage,  brightened  by  a  beautiful 
sun  and  enlivened  by  most  pleasant  company,  we  arrived  in 
Montreal  on  the  18th  of  July,  experiencing  the  truthfulness 
of  the  most  touching  English  song:— 

Home!  home!  sweet,  sweet  home! 
There's  no  place  like  home! 

Now,  dear  readers,  I  bring  my  book  to  a  close. 

In  it  I  have  endeavoured  to  state  and  enforce  the  truth  as  I 
find  it  in  the  Gospels  and  the  writings  of  the  inspired  apostles. 

This  truth  I  have  been  preaching  for  forty  years,  ever 
since  I  received  the  full  light. 

I  loved  the  truth  as  such  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  and 
I  have  not  consciously  varied  from  it  a  particle  in  my 
teaching. 


476  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

Nothing  can  do  us  the  highest  good  except  the  simple 
truth  as  revealed  in  God's  Holy  Word.  This  is  the  medicine 
and  food  of  the  soul,  not  the  traditions  and  inventions  of 
fallible  men.  The  blessed  Saviour  prayed:  "Sanctify  them 
through  Thy  truth ;  Thy  Word  is  truth."  We  cannot  be  saved 
by  mere  churchianitij  but  by  Christianity. 

As  to  matters  of  fact  stated  in  this  volume,  I  have  not 
knowingly  varied  in  the  least  degree  from  the  truth.  My 
readers  can  judge  for  themselves,  and  arrive  at  conclusions. 

My  work  on  earth  is  now  coming  to  an  end,  and  I  must 
soon  appear  before  my  Judge,  who  knows  all  things,  and  who 
will  do  just  right.  My  entire  trust  for  salvation  is  in  Christ 
as  my  Redeemer  and  Mediator. 

I  am  now  about  to  cross  the  river,  I  am  just  at  the  end  of 
life's  pilgrimage,  rich  with  the  unspeakable  gift  which  has 
been  given  me,  and  pressing  my  dear  Bible  to  my  heart  as 
the  richest  treasure,  I  hasten  my  steps  with  unspeakable  joy 
towards  the  Land  of  Promise.  I  hear  the  angel's  voice  tell- 
ing me:     "  Come,  the  Master  calls  thee." 

My  life  has  been  lengthened  out  much  beyond  the  average, 
being  now  in  my  ninetieth  year.  This  has  been  prolonged 
by  the  good  mercy  of  my  Heavenly  Father,  so  that  I  could 
do  something  in  the  cause  of  my  Saviour,  who  has  done  so 
much  for  me. 

I  ascribe  my  long  life  under  God  to  my  abstaining  from 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  general  observance  of  the 
laws  of  health.  No  doubt  my  habitual  state  of  mind  has  had 
a  great  influence  on  my  bodily  health.  My  strong  confidence 
in  my  God  and  the  peace  and  joy  I  have  felt,  springing 
from  an  abiding  evidence  of  my  acceptance  with  Him,  have 
tended  to  promote  health  and  length  of  days. 

I  am  now  ready  to  depart  and  be  with  my  Lord.  All  my 
labours  and  trials  seem  insignificant  in  comparison  with  that 
eternal  weight  of  glory  which  awaits  me.  I  have  no  fear  of 
death — it  has  no  sting  for  me.  Thanks  be  to  God  who  gives 
me  the  victory  over  the  last  enemy  through  our  Lord  Jesus 


Last  Visit  to   Europe  477 

Christ,  I  can  adopt  the  words  of  Paul:  "  I  am  now  ready  to 
be  offered  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness, which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at 
that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but  to  all  those  that  love  His 
appearing." 


CHAPTER  XLIII 

The  Final  Triumph.    Requiescat  in  Pace. 


THE  LAST  MESSAGE  OF  FATHER  CHINIQUY — HIS  ANTE=MORTEM 
DECLARATION  OF  FAITH,  SIGNED  AND  ATTESTED  SIX  DAYS 
BEFORE    HIS    DEATH. 

REASONS  WHY  HE  COULD  NOT  RETURN  TO  THE  CHURCH  OF 
ROME. 

On  this  10th  day  of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1899,  at  the  special  request  of  the  Keverend  Charles  Chiniquy, 
of  the  city  of  Montreal,  evangelist,  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
Doctor  of  Divinity,  etc.,  I,  George  R.  Lighthall,  the  under- 
signed Notary  Public,  practising  in  the  city  of  Montreal, 
aforesaid,  in  the  province  of  Quebec,  accompanied  by 
William  Grant  Stewart,  of  the  said  city  of  Montreal,  Esquire, 
Doctor  of  Medicine,  a  witness  to  these  presents,  expressly 
called,  went  and  repaired  to  the  domicile,  in  the  said  city  of 
Montreal,  of  the  said  Rev.  Charles  Chiniquy,  where  being, 
and  finding  him  in  poor  health  of  body,  but  of  sound  mind, 
as  appeared  to  us,  said  notary  and  witness,  by  his  actions, 
conversation  and  demeanor,  he  hath  made  and  published, 
and  has  declared  to  us,  said  notary  and  witness,  as  follows: — 

"Believing  that  my  earthly  life  is  drawing  to  its  end,  and 
that  I  am  about  to  die  and  enter  into  the  presence  of  God 
Almighty  and  of  my  blessed  Saviour,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
I,  before  God  Almighty,  declare  the  following  to  contain  the 
faith  in  which  I  die,  and  some  of  the  express  reasons  why  I 
still,  and  will  refuse  to  return  to  the  yoke  of  the  Pope  or  of 
his  Church,  which  is  commonly  called  the  Roman  Catholic 

478 


The   Final  Triumph  479 

Church,  of  which  Church  I  was  at  one  time,  and  for  years,  a 
priest  in  good  standing. 

'•  I  commend  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  Almighty  God,  my 
Creator,  through  the  sole  infinite  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  my 
Divine  Redeemer. 

"  I  hereby  expressly  declare  myself  to  be  a  Protestant,  pro- 
testing against  the  many  damnable  errors  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  in  the  Protestant  faith  I  have,  once  and 
for  all,  accepted  Jesus  Christ  for  my  only  Saviour,  believing 
that  God  has  forgiven  all  my  sins  for  His  sake,  and  I  accept 
His  Holy  Word  for  my  only  guide. 

"  I  can  never  return  to  the  yoke  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
for,  amongst  others,  the  following  reasons:— 

"  1.  The  dogma  of  the  apostolic  succession  from  Peter  to 
Leo  XIII.  is  an  imposture.  There  cannot  be  found  a  single 
word  in  the  Holy  Gospel  to  show  us  that  Peter  passed  a 
single  hour  in  Rome.  The  superiority  or  pre-eminence  given 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to  Peter  over  the  whole 
apostles  is  another  imposture.  Every  time  that  our  Saviour 
was  asked  by  His  twelve  apostles  who  would  be  first,  the 
leader,  the  Pope,  He  always  answered  that  there  would  not 
be  such  first,  leader  or  Pope  in  His  Church.  More  than  that. 
He  positively  answered  the  mother  of  Zebedee's  children, 
that  He  had  not  received  from  His  Father  the  power  to 
establish  one  of  His  apostles  over  the  others.  '  To  sit  on  My 
right  hand  or  My  left,  is  not  Mine  to  give.'       (Matt.  20:  23.) 

"  We  have  an  irrefutable  and  infallible  proof  that  our  Sa- 
viour never  put  Peter  at  the  head  of  the  apostles  as  the  first, 
the  leader  or  the  Pope,  in  the  dispute  that  occurred  among  the 
apostles  a  little  before  His  death.  'And  there  was  also  a 
strife  among  them,  which  of  them  should  be  counted  greatest.' 
(Luke  22:  24.)  Such  a  dispute  would  never  have  occurred  if 
Jesus  Christ  had  established  Peter  as  the  greatest,  or  the 
first  of  them.  They  would  surely  have  known  it,  and  Jesus 
would  have  answered,  'Have  you  so  soon  forgotten  that 
Peter  is  the  greatest  among  you,  that  he  is  the  first  among 


480  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

you  from  the  day  on  which  I  appointed  him  the  fundamental 
stone  of  My  Church? '  But  far  from  answering  thus,  the  Son 
of  God  rebukes  His  apostles  and  tells  them  positively,  'The 
kings  of  the  Gentiles  exercise  lordship  over  them  .  .  .  But 
it  shall  not  be  so  among  you.'  (Luke  22:  23-25.)  Not  only 
that  modern  forged  primacy  of  Peter  had  never  been  acknowl- 
edged by  any  of  the  apostles,  but  had  been  openly  and  posi- 
tively denied  by  Paul.  '  For  He  that  wrought  effectually  in 
Peter  to  the  apostleship  of  the  circumcision,  the  same  was 
mighty  in  me  towards  the  Gentiles.'  (Gal.  2:8.)  'And 
when  James,  Cephas,  and  John,  who  seemed  to  be  the  pillars, 
perceived  the  grace  that  was  given  unto  me,  they  gave  to  me 
and  Barnabas  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  that  we  should 
go  unto  the  heathen,  and  they  unto  the  circumcision.'  (Gal. 
2:9.)  Here  Peter  is  named  only  after  James,  a  thing  that 
never  would  have  been  done  by  St.  Paul  if  he  had  known 
anything  of  the  marvelous  superiority  and  primacy  of  Peter 
over  the  rest  of  the  apostles. 

"The  following  are  the  words  of  St.  Paul:  'But  when 
Peter  was  come  to  Antioch,  I  withstood  him  to  the  face,  be- 
cause he  was  to  be  blamed.'  (Gal.  2: 11.)  It  is  evident  that 
Paul  had  not  the  least  idea  of  any  kind  of  superiority  of 
Peter  over  him  when  he  withstood  him  to  the  face;  and  still 
more  when  he  wrote  these  lines.  It  is  clear  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  inspired  Paul  to  give  us  the  history  of  his  so  stern 
withstanding  to  the  face  of  Peter,  that  we  might  not  be 
seduced  by  the  grand  imposture  of  the  supremacy  of  Peter, 
which  is  the  corner=stone  of  the  apostate  Church  of  Rome. 

*'  2.  I  will  never  be  a  Roman  Catholic,  for  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church  is  idolatrous.  It  worships  God?  Yes,  but  the 
god  whom  it  worships  is  made  with  a  wafer — it  is  a  wafers 
god  that  is  on  its  altar.  Every  hour  of  his  priestly  life  a 
priest  is  guilty  of  the  crime  which  Aaron  committed  when  he 
caused  the  Israelites  to  worship  a  golden  calf.  The  only 
difference  between  him  and  Aaron  is  that  Aaron's  god  was 
made  of  gold,  and  that  of  the  priest  is  made  of  some  dough 


The    Final  Triumph  481 

baked  by  nuns  or  servant  girls  between  two  well-polished 
and  heated  irons. 

"  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  a  christ  on  its  altars. 
Yes,  and  it  is  very  devoted  and  truly  pious  towards  that  christ, 
or  rather,  these  christs:  it  praises  their  powers  and  their  mer- 
cies; it  sings  beautiful  songs  in  their  honour;  but  the  christs 
whom  they  worship  are  spoken  of  by  our  Saviour  in  the 
24th  of  Matthew:  'There  will  be  false  christs,  and  they  will 
show  great  signs  and  wonders,  insomuch  that  if  it  were  pos- 
sible they  should  deceive  the  very  elect.  Wherefore  if  they 
say  unto  you,  behold  He  (Christ)  is  in  the  secret  cham- 
bers, believe  it  not.' 

"  Now  I  see  that  terrible  prophecy  is  accomplished  by  the 
Church  of  Rome  every  time  its  people  prostrate  themselves 
before  these  christs  made  in  little  cakes  and  put  in  the  secret 
chambers  of  its  Church.  Its  people  believe  in  those  christs 
of  the  secret  chambers,  when  the  Son  of  God  tells  them  '  Be- 
lieve it  not.'  They  go  there  to  adore  the  wafer-god,  when 
the  true  Christ  says,  'Go  not  there.' 

"  In  vain  it  tells  us  that  Christ  gave  its  priests  the  power  to 
make  its  god  with  the  engraven  wafer.  I  answer  that  Christ 
Himself  had  not  the  power  to  make  God  and  make  Himself 
with  an  engraven  wafer;  for  His  Father  had  forbidden  such 
an  absurd  and  idolatrous  act  when,  on  Mount  Sinai,  in  the 
midst  of  thunders  and  lightning,  He  said:  '  Thou  shalt  not 
make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of  any- 
thing that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath, 
or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth:  thou  shalt  not  bow 
down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them :  for  I  the  Lord  thy 
God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of 
them  that  hate  me.' 

"  Christ  came  to  accomplish  and  not  to  break  His  Father's 
commandments.  He  could  not  give  the  Church  of  Rome  the 
permission  or  the  power  to  break  them  by  ordering  it — as  it 
pretends  He  did — to  make  an  engraven  wafer,  turn  it  into 


482  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

God,  and  bow  down  before  it,  for  this  is  idolatry.  When 
Christ  told  us  to  eat  His  body  and  drink  His  blood,  He  was 
speaking  in  the  same  fij^ure  as  when  He  said  He  would  eat 
the  Passover.  Though  Christ  said,  *  I  will  eat  the  Pass- 
over,' he  was  not  able  to  eat  the  Passover,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  passage  of  the  exterminating  angel  over 
Egypt  could  not  be  eaten.  But  the  lamb  which  was  eaten  in 
remembrance  of  the  Passover  would  be  eaten,  and  that  lamb 
was  called  the  Passover  because  it  represented  a  Passover. 
By  the  same  figure  of  speech  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
would  not  be  eaten.  But  the  bread  which  represented  that 
body  would  be  eaten,  and  the  bread  had  then  to  be  called  the 
'body'  for  the  same  reason  and  by  the  same  rule  of  lan- 
guage that  the  lamb  was  called  the  '  Passover '  though  it  was 
not  the  Passover;  just  in  the  same  way  and  by  the  same  rule 
of  language  that  when  we  look  at  the  marble  statue  of  Queen 
Victoria  we  say,  '  This  is  Queen  Victoria,'  though  it  is  not 
Queen  Victoria  at  all. 

"  3.  I  will  never  be  a  Roman  Catholic  because  every  Ro- 
man Catholic  Bishop  and  priest  is  forced  to  perjure  himself 
every  time  he  explains  a  text  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Yes, 
though  it  is  a  very  big  word  and  a  hard  word,  it  is  the  truth. 
From  the  day  that  he  has  sworn  when  he  was  ordained  a 
priest  to  interpret  the  Holy  Scriptures  only  according  to  the 
unanimous  consent  of  the  holy  fathers,  he  has  seldom 
preached  on  a  text  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  without  being 
guilty  of  perjury,  for,  after  having  studied  the  holy  fathers 
with  some  attention,  I  am  ready  to  prove  that  the  holy 
fathers  have  been  unanimous  in  only  one  thing,  which  was  to 
differ  on  almost  every  text  of  the  Scriptures  on  which  they 
had  written.  For  instance,  the  priest  cannot  say  that  the 
books  of  the  Maccabees  are  inspired  without  perjuring  him- 
self; for  the  greatest  part  of  the  holy  fathers  say  that  these 
books  are  not  inspired.  A  priest  cannot,  without  perjuring 
himself,  say,  when  Christ  said  to  Peter,  '  Thou  art  Peter, 
and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church,'  it  signified  that 


The    Final   Triumph  483 

Peter  was  meant  by  this  rock,  and  that  he  is  the  corner^ 
stone  of  the  Church;  for  the  priest  knows  very  well  that  St. 
Augustine  and  many  other  holy  fathers  said  that  Christ 
meant  Himself  when  He  said,  '  Upon  this  rock  I  will  build 
My  Church.' 

"  4.  I  cannot  be  any  more  a  Roman  Catholic,  for  I  know 
that  Auricular  Confession  is  a  diabolical  institution,  as  I 
have  amply  shown  it  to  be  by  my  book  called,  '  The  Priest, 
the  Woman,  and  the  Confessional.' 

"  5.  I  will  never  be  a  Roman  Catholic,  for  I  have  seen  with 
my  eyes  the  inside  of  the  walls  of  the  churches,  and  they  are 
filled  with  all  the  abominations  of  the  world.  The  priestly 
celibacy  is  of  diabolical  institution.  Purgatory,  with  the 
poor  souls  that  burn  in  it,  and  are  saved  by  paying  the 
Church  so  many  dollars,  is  of  diabolical  institution.  The 
waters  of  La  Sallette  and  Notre  Dame  de  Lourdes  which 
are  sold  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  are  of  diabolical  in- 
stitution. The  Roman  Catholic  Church's  forbidding  to  eat 
meat  on  certain  days  is  of  diabolical  institution.  Its  infalli- 
ble Pope  and  immaculate  Mother  of  God  are  of  diabolical 
institution. 

"  6,  With  the  help  of  God  I  will  never  think  of  making  my 
peace  with  the  Church  of  Rome,  for  her  priests.  Bishops  and 
Popes  have  shed  the  blood  of  millions  of  martyrs,  from  John 
Huss  to  our  dear  brother,  Hackett.  On  the  Pope's  hands  I 
see  the  blood  of  75,000  Protestants  slaughtered  on  the  night 
of  St.  Bartholomew,  and  the  blood  of  half  a  million  of  Chris- 
tians slaughtered  in  the  mountains  of  Piedmont. 

"  7.  I  will  never  be  a  Roman  Catholic,  for  its  Church  is  the 
implacable  enemy  of  the  laws  of  God  and  of  the  rights, 
liberties  and  privileges  of  man.  Its  Church  has  degraded 
and  brought  into  the  dust  and  mud  all  the  nations  it  has  ruled. 

"  I  might  give  many  other  reasons  why  I  would  never  be  a 
Roman  Catholic,  but  I  hope  that  these  are  sufficient  to  show  to 
my  dear  countrymen,  who  are  so  cruelly  kept  in  ignominious 
ignorance  and  slavery,  that,  having  once  accepted  Christ  and 


484  Forty  Years   in  the   Church  of  Christ 

His  holy  Word  for  my  guide,  I  cannot  bow  down  any  more 
before  idols  and  wafer^gods. 

"  It  is  my  wish  and  desire  that  publicity  be  given  to  this 
my  declaration  of  faith,  and  to  that  end  I  hereby  instruct  and 
ai)point  my  son=in4aw,  the  Rev.  Joseph  L.  Morin,  of  said 
city  of  Montreal,  minister  of  the  Gospel,  to  cause  these 
presents  to  be  published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  French 
and  English  languages  as  he  may  think  best,  and  to  take  such 
other  means  for  the  j)ublication  thereof  as  in  his  opinion 
may  be  advisable.  I  also  hereby  instruct  him  to  forward  a 
duly  certified  copy  hereof  to  the  Roman  Catholic  archbishop 
of  Montreal,  for  the  time  being,  at  the  time  of  my  death." 

"  Executed  at  the  domicile  of  the  said  Rev  Charles  Chini- 
quy  on  the  day  and  date  aforesaid,  under  the  number  three 
thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty^six,  and  signed  by  said 
declarant,  witness  and  notary,  after  due  reading  hereof. 

"  (Signed)        C.  Chiniquy. 

"  W.  Grant  Stewart, 

"  Geo.  R.  Lighthall,  N.  P. 

"A  true  copy  of  original  hereof  remaining  on  record  in  my 
oflBce. 

"  (Signed)        Geo.  R.  Lighthall,  N.  P." 

II 

ADDRESS  DELIVERED  AT  THE  FUNERAL  SERVICE  OF  FATHER 
CHINIQUY,  ON  THURSDAY,  JANUARY  19,  1899,  BY  THE 
REV.  C.  E.  AMARON,  D.  D.,  PASTOR  OF  ST.  JOHN'S  FRENCH 
PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  OF  WHICH  THE  DECEASED  WAS  A 
MEMBER. 

The  solemn  duty  of  saying  a  few  words  at  the  tomb  of  the 
illustrious  man  of  which  the  French  Protestant  Church  and 
Christendom  have  just  been  bereft,  has  been  entrusted  to 
me  by  my  brethren.     I  feel  unequal  to  the  solemn  duty. 


The    Final  Triumph  485 

If  I  followed  the  promptings  of  my  heart,  if  I  did  not  con- 
quer my  feelings,  with  the  afflicted  family,  with  this  vast 
concourse  of  people,  come  from  far  and  near,  to  honour  the 
memory  of  the  valiant  defender  of  the  truth  who  has  ceased 
his  labours,  with  a  multitude  from  the  ranks  of  the  humble 
and  poor  of  the  world,  whom  he  always  aided  and  succoured, 
I  would  bow  my  head  in  sorrow  and  allow  my  tears  to  flow. 

We  deplore  the  great  gap  that  has  been  caused.  We  feel 
the  loss  we  have  sustained,  and  all  the  more  because  we  were 
not  prepared  for  it. 

It  had  seemed  to  us  that  the  mighty  wrestler  of  so  many 
years,  who,  like  the  oak  of  the  forest,  had  withstood  so  many 
storms,  and  whose  admirable  physical  frame  had  so  often 
triumphed  over  sickness,  would  once  more  be  conqueror  to 
continue  the  great  work  to  which  God  had  called  him.  But 
our  fond  hopes  have  been  disappointed,  and  with  the  prophet 
of  Israel  we  are  constrained  to  cry  aloud:  "Howl,  fir  tree; 
for  the  cedar  has  fallen." 

I  need  not  dwell  here  on  the  leading  features  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  distinguished  reformer  whom  God  has  called 
away. 

Born  in  the  Church  of  Rome  when  she  was  all-powerful  in 
Canada,  Father  Chiniquy  became  one  of  her  leading  priests. 

Miraculously  guided  and  illumined  by  the  teachings  of 
God's  Holy  Word,  he  was  impelled  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
abandon  the  religious  system  that  could  no  longer  satisfy  the 
wants  of  his  soul  and  the  promptings  of  his  conscience,  to 
accept  the  religion  of  the  Gospel. 

No  one  ignores  the  sacrifices  which  were  involved  in  such  a 
step,  not  to  speak  of  the  dangers.  For  conscience  sake 
he  voluntarily  divested  himself  of  those  supernatural  powers 
which  every  priest  is  supposed  to  possess,  and  he  forfeited  the 
immense  influence  which  he  had  already  acquired,  and  made 
the  sacrifice  of  greater  riches  and  honours  in  store  for  him. 

He  did  not  hesitate  to  come  down  from  that  lofty  pedestal 
of  ecclesiastical  and  worldly  glory,  to  become  a  simple  minis- 


4-86  Forty   Years   in    the   Church  ot  Christ 

ter  of  the  Gospel,  should  we  not  rather  say,  to  ascend  to  the 
ciio^nity  of  the  honourable  servant  of  Jesus  Christ. 

He  was  well  aware  that  outrages,  persecutit)ns  and  dangers 
awaited  him  on  all  sides.  He  felt  conscious  that  there  would  be 
strong  misgivings  as  to  the  character  of  the  work  of  intellec- 
tual and  moral  emancipation,  which  would  absorb  his  thought, 
and  to  which  he  felt  called  to  devote  his  life.  Beforehand  he 
knew  he  would  be  despised,  hated  and  cursed  by  the  power- 
ful Church  from  which  he  was  withdrawing,  and  he  would  be 
suspected  by  Protestantism. 

But  the  voice  of  duty  prevailed  over  all  others,  and  inspired 
by  the  cry  of  this  illustrious  forerunner,  John  Calvin,  "  God 
wills  it,  God  wills  it,"  with  that  energy,  with  that  indomitable 
courage  which  ever  characterized  him,  born  of  strong  convic- 
tions and  faith  in  Christ,  like  the  Apostle  Paul,  that  noble 
apostate  of  the  Jewish  Church,  he  forsook  all  to  unfurl  the 
banner  of  the  Christian  faith.  In  view  of  the  extraordinary 
influence  which  he  wielded  among  his  countrymen,  the  re- 
sponsibilities which  God  entrusted  to  him  were  very  great. 

Would  he  be  faithful  to  his  sacred  trust?  Would  he  prove 
worthy  of  it?  Would  he  proclaim  to  the  end  the  principles 
of  evangelical  Protestantism?  Having  been  a  priest  of 
Rome,  would  he  dare  to  face  the  messenger  of  death  without 
the  ministry  of  the  priest?  Thousands  of  his  fold  who  so 
often  unjustly  accused  him  of  pride,  predicted  again  and 
again  his  return  to  Rome  at  the  solemn  hour.  Likewise  did 
others,  who  did  not  cease  to  love  him,  while  regretting  his  con- 
version. Those  who  had  previously  experienced  saving  faith, 
and  who  had  knowledge  of  his,  who  knew  him  intimately, 
who  had  witnessed  his  piety,  and  who  had  occasion  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  motives  which  prompted  him  even  in 
his  most  scathing  discourses  against  that  which  for  him  was 
error  and  idolatry;  those  who  had  shared  his  great  moral  and 
religious  struggles,  never  doubted  his  sincerity  and  fidelity. 
He  had  failings,  yes,  and  who  is  without  these?  Those  with 
which  he  could  in  a  special  manner  be  reproached,  must  be 


The  Final   Triumph  487 

charged  to  the  inadequate  and  positively  harmful  clerical  edu- 
cation he  had  received,  and  which  he  in  after  years  so  vigor- 
ously combated. 

Possessing  strong  convictions,  Dr.  Chiniquy  remained 
faithful  to  the  Protestant  faith  to  the  end ;  in  public  and  in 
private  he  proclaimed  the  virtues  of  Him  who  had  called  him 
out  of  darkness  into  His  marvelous  light. 

During  his  last  illness  of  fifteen  days,  his  strong  faith  sus- 
tained him.  One  week  previous  to  his  death,  after  hearing  the 
reading  of  the  letter  from  the  Archbishop  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  of  Montreal,  who  offered  him  the  help  of  his 
ministry,  the  sick  man,  still  strong  and  in  the  full  enjoyment 
of  his  intellectual  powers,  asked  those  who  had  made  him 
acquainted  with  the  intentions  of  the  Archbishop  to  express 
to  him  his  sincere  thanks  for  the  interest  he  had  manifested 
in  his  spiritual  welfare,  and  said  in  substance:  "  I  am  grate- 
ful to  the  Archbishop  .  .  .  but  I  have  definitely  with- 
drawn from  the  Church  of  Rome.  I  am  perfectly  happy  in 
the  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  God  and  Jesus  suffice  me.  I  long 
to  depart." 

In  an  interview  which  I  myself  had  with  the  Archbishop, 
I  promised  him  that  if  Dr.  Chiniquy  expressed  a  desire  to  see 
him,  his  liberty  of  conscience  would  be  respected.  On  sev- 
eral occasions  I  asked  the  distinguished  patient  if  the  faith 
which  had  sustained  him  during  the  last  forty  years  of  strug- 
gles proved  sufficient  at  the  supreme  hour.  With  uplifted 
hands  he  replied:  "  The  road  which  leads  me  to  heaven  is 
straight;  it  is  Jesus  Christ." 

Two  days  later  he  said  to  me:  "It  is  beautiful  to  reach 
the  end  of  the  voyage.  Heaven  opens  before  my  wondering 
eyes.  What  more  could  be  offered  me?  How  could  I  miss 
the  road  when  Jesus  the  only  Saviour  guides  ?  "  My  brethren, 
if  a  man  who  dies  with  such  a  faith  is  not  saved,  there  is  no 
salvation  possible.  And  thus  did  this  noble  life  come  to  a 
close,  a  life  of  intense  Christian  activity  and  charity. 

Calmly  and  peacefully  he  fell  asleep;  the  celestial  messen- 


488  Forty  Years  in   the  Church   of  Christ 

gers  carried  his  soul,  ransomed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  to 
the  city  of  God,  and  at  this  solemn  moment  his  peaceful 
countenance  reflects  the  calm  rest  of  heaven. 

During  his  life,  he  proclaimed  to  thousands  of  souls  salva- 
tion through  the  merits  of  Christ  alone.  He  placed  Jesus 
and  His  ministry  of  grace  and  pardon  ever  above  that  of  man. 

By  his  triumphant  death  he  now  lifts  the  veil  which  has 
concealed  the  truth  from  thousands  of  timid  souls,  men  and 
women,  who,  whilst  having  lost  faith  in  the  religious  system 
which  he  combated,  have  never  had  the  courage  to  embrace 
the  evangelical  faith.  He  says  to  them  that  he  who  forsakes 
all  to  accept  Christ,  the  Saviour,  is  happy  during  life,  and 
receives  the  crown  of  immortality  at  the  hour  of  death. 

Servant  of  the  living  God,  we  do  not  bid  thee  adieu,  but 
farewell;  thy  pains  and  griefs  and  labours  are  ended.  No 
more  shall  we  hear  the  accents  of  thy  sympathetic  voice. 
The  noises  of  the  earth  for  thee  are  now  hushed  in  silence, 
and  thou  art  at  rest  under  the  shadow  of  the  tree  of  life. 

We  give  the  rendezvous  in  the  Jerusalem  above,  the  eter- 
nal city,  the  holy  palace  where  dwells  the  great  King,  the 
abode  of  the  ransomed,  faithful  soul. 

While  we  weep  for  thee,  in  the  mansions  of  God  all  is  joy 
and  peace;  the  vaults  of  heaven  resound  with  loud  hosannas. 
There,  no  more  sorrows,  no  more  pains;  all  tears  are  dried. 

Sleep  thy  last  sleep, 

Free  from  care  and  sorrow; 
Rest  where  none  weep, 

Till  the  eternal  morrow; 
Though  dark  waves  roll  o'er  the  silent  river, 

Thy  fainting  sonl  Jesus  can  deliver. 

Though  we  may  mourn 

Those  in  life  the  dearest, 
They  shall  return, 

Christ,  when  Thou  appearest; 
Soon  shall  Thy  voice 

Comfort  those  now  weeping, 
Bidding  rejoice. 

All  in  Jesus  sleeping.     Amen. 


The  Final  Triumph  489 

III 

MEMORIAL  SERVICE. — SERMON  PREACHED  BY  THE  REV.  A.  J. 
MOWATT,  IN  ERKSKINE  CHURCH,  MONTREAL,  ON  SUNDAY 
MORNING,  JANUARY  22,  1899.— THE  APOSTLE  OF  FRENCH 
EVANGELIZATION. 

"  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 
I  have  kept  the  faith;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown."     2Tira.  4:7,  8. 

I  see  Paul  yonder  writing  his  last  letter,  putting  on  record 
his  dying  words.  He  knows  it.  Death  faces  him.  The  lion 
that  had  been  kept  at  bay  is  now  ready  to  spring  upon  him. 
The  sword  leaps  from  its  scabbard  that  is  to  slay  him.  What 
will  he  write?  How  do  things  look  to  him  now?  It  is  one 
thing  to  see  them  with  life  and  all  its  promises  before  one, 
and  it  is  another  thing  to  see  them  when  life  and  all  it  has 
failed  to  be  lie  behind  one.  Is  he  sorry  now  that  he  broke 
with  his  old  faith  and  all  the  brilliant  prospects  it  held  out  to 
him?  Does  he  now  see  that  the  great  light  that  flashed  upon 
him  in  the  way  was  not  a  light  that  he  should  have  followed? 
Does  he  regret  the  zeal  that  swept  him  from  city  to  city, 
shore  to  shore,  preaching  Christ  crucified?  He  remembers 
what  he  has  had  to  suffer  and  sacrifice  for  the  Gospel's  sake. 
The  loss  of  all  things  it  means  to  him,  the  times  he  had 
been  whipped  and  stoned  and  imprisoned,  the  perils  it  had 
dragged  him  into  and  through,  and  for  what?  Here  he  is, 
a  poor  old  missionary,  deserted  of  his  friends,  forsaken  of 
those  who  should  stand  by  him  when  he  needs  them  most. 
Oh,  it  is  sad,  it  is  all  a  mistake;  "so  let  apostates  die!"  his 
enemies  are  saying.  But  Paul  does  not  regret.  Kead  his 
dying  testimony,  and  if  words  mean  anything,  he  counts  his 
life  not  a  failure  at  all,  but  a  splendid  success,  a  triumph: 
"  I  am  already  being  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is 
come.  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my 
course,  I  have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for 


490  Forty  Years  in   the   Church  of  Christ 

me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  right- 
eous Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day:  and  not  only  to  me,  but 
also  to  all  them  that  have  loved  His  appearing." 

I  stood  here  on  Thursday,  where  I  am  standing  now,  and  I 
looked  into  Father  Chiniquy's  dead  face  as  it  lay  before  me, 
and  there  were  some  questions  suggested  that  seem  to  me 
worthy  of  our  most  earnest  consideration.  It  may  have  been 
fancy  on  my  part,  but  his  face  seemed  to  smile  up  into  mine, 
and  to  say  something  like  this:  "  I  am  already  offered,  and 
my  departure  has  come.  I,  too,  have  fought  the  good  fight. 
I.  too,  have  finished  my  course.  I,  too,  have  kept  the  faith. 
And  for  me  is  the  crown  that  was  the  apostle's  crown,  the 
crown  of  all  who  have  loved  the  Lord's  appearing." 

I  want  to  ask  this  to=day,  first  of  all,  with  his  dead  face 
still  before  me,  if  it  was  a  mistake,  one  of  the  blunders  of  a 
great  life,  such  as  his  has  been, 

TO  BREAK  WITH  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME? 

Men  do  make  mistakes.  They  blunder  their  lives.  Great 
men  do  that.  Wise  men  do  it.  Did  Father  Chiniquy  do  it, 
when,  at  an  important  crisis  in  his  life,  he  broke  with  his 
own  past  record  of  some  fifty  years  standing,  broke  with  the 
faith  that  had  done  so  much  for  him,  broke  with  the  Church 
of  his  fathers,  the  Church  that  had  nourished  and  cherished 
him  as  a  mother  nourishes  and  cherishes  her  child;  that  had 
baptized  him,  that  had  taken  him  into  her  bosom  and  had 
put  him  among  her  children,  that  bad  educated  him  and  then 
had  ordained  him,  that  had  opened  a  brilliant  future  for  him 
and  honoured  him  with  her  honours — did  he,  I  ask,  do  a 
great  wrong,  make  a  mistake,  blunder  his  life,blunder  somuch? 

Now,  it  is  easy  for  some,  looking  at  things  from  their  par- 
ticular standpoint,  to  say:  "Yes,  he  did  wrong."  And  so 
they  call  him  an  apostate.  Others  again  find  it  just  as  easy 
to  say:  "No,  he  did  nothing  wrong;  he  did  right."  And  so 
they  call  him  an  apostle  and  extol  his  virtues. 


The   Final  Triumph  491 

We  listen  to  these  and  they  speak  well;  we  listen  to  those 
and  they  speak  well,  too,  or  seem  to.  And  yet  both  cannot 
be  right.  If  Chiniquy  v/as  an  apostate,  he  cannot  be  an 
apostle;  if  he  was  an  apostle  in  any  proper  sense,  he  cannot 
be  an  apostate.     Where,  then,  are  we? 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  particulars  of  his  life;  these  have 
been  sufficiently  dwelt  upon.  A  lovelier  childhood  could 
hardly  be.  We  see  mother  and  child  bathed  in  one  another's 
tears  as  the  one  teaches  and  the  other  learns  the  sweet  Gospel 
story  of  the  Saviour's  love,  and  there  is  nothing  to  be  desired. 
If  that  is  in  any  measure  a  sample  of  what  is  going  on  in 
Roman  Catholic  homes,  it  shames  many  a  Presbyterian 
home.  Then,  later,  we  see  him  entering  upon  his  public  du- 
ties with  a  holy,  burning  zeal.  The  way  he  championed  the 
temperance  cause,  and  sought  to  lift  up  the  people  in  that 
respect,  cannot  be  too  highly  praised.  And  so  it  goes  on 
with  him  till  a  complication  of  circumstances  arise  in  con- 
nection with  the  gigantic  colonization  scheme  he  is  at  the 
head  of,  that  drives  him  to  choose  between  obedience  to  God 
and  man.  It  is  solemn  moment  with  him,  a  real  garden  of 
Gethsemane.  Who  can  enter  into  that  darkness?  Who  can 
estimate  the  agony  of  a  true  soul  as  it  is  led  to  tear  itself 
away  from  a  past  so  sacred,  and  venture  upon  a  future  so 
dark  and  ominous?  But  when  he  took  from  his  breast= 
pocket  his  little  French  Testament  and  read:  "Ye  were 
bought  with  a  price;  become  not  bond=servants  of  men,"  that 
settled  it.  He  fell  on  his  knees  and  yielded  himself  to  Him 
who  had  bought  him  with  His  blood — bought  him  to  make 
him  free.  Henceforth  let  no  one  lord  it  over  him.  When  a 
Church,  whether  the  Church  of  Rome  or  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  usurps  the  place  of  God,  and  seeks  to  bind  men  to 
her  as  slaves  are  bound,  she  is  to  be  broken  with.  Thus  was 
Father  Chiniquy  led,  driven,  compelled,  as  he  looked  upon 
it,  to  break  with  the  Church  of  his  fathers,  to  free  himself 
from  what  he  felt  to  be,  on  her  part,  tyranny,  spiritual  usur- 
pation. 


49^  Forty  Years  in  the  Church  of  Christ 

There  was  Paul — he  broke  with  his  Church  the  tyrannous 
and  persecuting  ecclesiasticism  of  his  day.  I  ask,  did  he 
do  right?  You  find  him  in  full  sympathy  with  her  bitter 
persecuting  spirit.  A  fiery  zeal  burned  in  his  great  soul  and 
swept  him  on.  But  he  saw  a  great  light.  It  flashed  upon 
him  from  heaven.  He  was  not  looking  for  it.  It  came  look- 
ing for  him.  And  in  its  light  how  difiPerently  things  looked 
from  the  way  they  had  looked  to  him  before!  And  then  he 
heard  a  voice  as  well  as  he  saw  a  light — the  voice  of  Jesus 
the  Crucified.  The  voice  and  vision  so  changed  things  for 
him  that  he  would  not  go  back  to  what  he  had  been.  You 
see  him  on  his  knees  in  the  little  room.  It  is  his  Garden  of 
Gethsemane.  Who  can  enter  into  the  awful  experiences  of 
those  three  days?  But  he  emerged  a  new  man.  They 
called  him  an  apostate  for  turning  his  back  on  his 
Church  and  people  and  all  he  had  been.  They  said 
all  manner  of  hard  things  about  him.  And  was  there  not 
good  reason  for  it?  Had  he  not  in  all  good  faith  accepted  a 
position  and  commission,  and  bound  himself  to  stand  by  the 
mother  Church?  Yes.  No  sooner,  however,  is  he  out  of 
sight  of  the  authorities  that  had  sent  him  and  trusted  him 
than  he  broke  faith  with  them  and  went  over  to  the  other 
side  to  be  as  strong  there.  What  shall  be  said  of  such  a 
man?  Apostate  shall  we  not  call  him?  And  yet,  he  is  no 
apostate,  but  an  apostle.  He  had  been  wrong,  and  he  came 
to  know  it.  His  Church  had  been  wrong,  and  he  came  to 
know  it.  Her  priests  and  high  priests  and  ecclesiastics  were 
all  wrong,  and  he  came  to  know  it.  With  his  fuller  light 
then,  what  else,  as  an  honest  man,  could  he  do  if  he  would 
be  true  to  himself,  true  to  the  truth,  true  to  God,  but  break 
with  his  Church,  change  his  faith,  apostatize— shall  we  not 
call  it?  I  tell  you  the  world  would  be  the  better  and  the 
Church  would  be  the  purer  if  there  were  more  of  such  apos- 
tates as  Paul  and  Chiniquy. 

I  look  again  into  tlie  dead  face  of  Father  Chiniquy  as  he 
lay  there  and  I  ask  myself  and  ask  you  here  to  day  if  he  did 


The   Final  Triumph  493 

a  thing  unworthy  of  him  to  give  himself  with  all  the  inten- 
sity of  his  great  soul,  with  all  the  fire  of  apostolic  zeal,  and 
with  all  the  eloquence  with  which  he  was  endowed  so 
richly,  to 

THE  CAUSE  OF  FRENCH  EVANGELIZATION 

Look  at  Paul  and  see  what  he  did.  As  we  have  seen,  he 
broke  with  the  Church.  In  the  new  light  that  had  come  to 
him  he  could  not  do  otherwise.  And  not  only  did  he  break 
with  his  Church,  he  turned  right  round,  and  was  as  hard 
against  her  as  he  had  been  for  her.  He  gave  himself  to  the 
Gospel,  to  its  promulgation  and  extension,  with  all  the  might 
that  was  in  him.  He  went  into  the  synagogues  of  the  land 
with  his  new  faith  and  pleaded  there  the  cause  of  the  Gos- 
13el,  and  thus  divided  them,  sowed  dissension,  set  them  on 
fire,  overturned  things.  He  found  men  living  at  peace  with 
one  another,  doing  their  duties  in  the  old  way,  and  after  he 
had  spoken,  they  were  all  at  variance,  some  holding  to  the 
old  faith  still,  others  siding  with  the  new,  and  the  very  foun- 
dations of  things  ready  to  be  broken  up.  Do  you  wonder 
then  that  such  a  firebrand  of  a  man  as  he  was,  was  mobbed 
in  the  streets,  stoned,  imprisoned,  driven  out  from  one  place 
and  pursued  to  another,  the  most  hated  and  abused  of  his  kind? 

And  yet  he  was  gentleness  itself,  as  kind  as  love  could 
make  him,  seeking  only  men's  highest  interests,  willing  to 
lay  down  his  life,  if  in  that  way  or  in  any  other  way  at  all 
he  could  be  a  help  to  them.  It  was  the  truth  as  he  preached 
it  that  set  them  on  fire,  and  so  whenever  he  came  preaching 
the  Gospel  there  was  hot  work, — hot  words,  hot  hearts.  "  Let 
us  have  peace,"  men  said.  And  the  Gospel  is  peace.  But 
how  can  truth  and  error  be  at  peace  together?  Peace  in- 
deed! I  tell  you  it  is  a  dead  state  of  things  with  both  of 
them  whel'e  there  is  peace.  Put  a  dead  wolf  and  a  dead 
lamb  together  in  the  same  fold  and  all  will  be  peace — the 
peace  of  the  dead.  But  let  there  be  life,  and  where  then  is 
the  thing  men  call  peace? 


494  Forty  Years   in   the   Church  of  Christ 

Many  could  not  see  what  the  old  fight  was  all  about.  The 
old  Jewish  Church  and  the  new  Christian  Church — are  not 
both,  the  one  as  well  as  the  other,  seeking  to  lead  men  to  the 
one  and  same  place?  Let  there  be  no  quarrel  between  them. 
But  there  was  all  the  difference  between  truth  and  error. 
The  one  had  the  Gospel  and  the  other  did  not  have  it.  The 
one  rejected  Christ,  crucified  Him;  the  other  received  Him, 
crowned  Him.  Paul,  with  his  light,  saw  all  the  difference 
in  the  world  between  them,  and  so  he  preached  Christ,  and 
in  preaching  Christ  he  went  full  tilt  against  the  Church  of 
his  fathers.  There  was  nothing  else  for  it,  and  so  the  smoke 
of  battle  arose. 

Now,  as  with  Paul,  so  with  Father  Chiniquy.  And  I  hesi- 
tate not  to  compare  them.  The  Gospel  Paul  preached,  Chini- 
quy preached.  It  was  Christ  crucified  with  Paul,  and  it  was 
Christ  crucified  with  Chiniquy.  It  was  salvation  by  grace 
through  faith  with  Paul,  and  it  was  salvation  by  grace 
through  faith  with  Chiniquy.  It  was  everything  to  Paul  to 
preach  the  simple  Gospel,  and  it  was  everything  to  Chiniquy 
to  do  it,  too.  If  Paul  was  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  Chini- 
quy was  the  apostle  of  French  evangelization. 

What  is  French  evangelization?  It  is  simply  the  Gospel 
to  the  French  people.  Paul  felt  it  his  duty  and  privilege  to 
go  to  his  countrymen  with  the  Gospel,  and  Chiniquy  felt  it 
his  special  call  and  mission  to  go  to  his  countrymen  with  the 
Gospel.  You  see  Paul  rising  from  his  knees  and  with  his 
soul  on  fire  going  forth  to  tell  his  co-religionists  of  Jesus. 
And  you  see  Chiniquy  rising  from  his  knees  and  hastening 
home  to  his  beloved  people;  he  tells  them  with  a  tongue  all 
on  fire  what  a  blessed  light  had  brok(m  upon  him,  and  the 
people,  one  and  all,  hailed  him  and  followed  where  he  led 
them.  It  was  another  day  of  Pentecost  yonder.  That  was 
forty  years  ago,  but  the  memory  of  it  can  never  fade,  the 
light  of  it  never  go  out. 

French  evangelization — some  do  not  like  it.  They  speak 
against  it,  call  it  hard  names.     It  filled  the  streets  of  Mon- 


The  Final  Triumph  495 

treal  with  a  howling  mob  in  other  days,  stoned  Chiniquy 
and  his  friends;  it  must  be  a  bad  thing.  It  kindles  up 
strife  and  controversy,  casts  firebrands;  it  must  be  a  bad 
thing.  It  enters  once  happy  homes  and  sets  one  against 
another;  the  husband  against  the  wife  and  the  wife  against 
the  husband,  the  parent  against  the  child  and  the  child 
against  the  parent;  a  thing  that  does  that  must  be  a  bad 
thing. 

But  is  that  so?  Why  cannot  we  see  that  that  is  the  very 
thing  that  is  wanted?  Why  cannot  we  see  that  in  so  far  as 
it  does  that  it  is  the  old  Gospel  Christ  preached  and  Paul 
preached  and  Luther  preached?  The  Gospel,  as  Christ 
preached  it,  mobbed  Him  and  at  last  crucified  Him.  The 
Gospel,  as  Paul  preached  it,  threw  him  into  prison,  and  at  last 
martyred  him.  Think  it  not  a  strange  thing  then,  if  the  apostle 
of  French  evangelization  could  not  fulfil  his  mission,  do  his 
work  without  a  fight.  When  French  evangelization  or  any 
other  evangelization  ceases  to  be  a  firebrand  in  the  land,  it  has 
outlived  its  usefulness,  its  day  is  done,  it  has  lost  its  power. 
It  is  time  to  give  your  money,  your  support,  to  something 
else,  something  better. 

I  asked  here  to-day — and  that  old  face  with  the  light  still 
in  it  is  before  me  as  I  try  to  speak — if  it  was  his  one  great 
mistake,  the  maddest  and  foolhardiest  thing  a  man  of  his 
ability  ever  set  himself  to  do,  to  give  the  best  forty  years  of 
his  life  to  a  thing  so  utterly  hopeless  as  French  evangeliza- 
tion? If  he  had  remained  true  to  his  Church  he  might  have 
occupied  the  proudest  positions  at  her  disposal,  and  died  full 
of  her  honours.  And  yet  despise  not  French  evangelization. 
It  is  still  a  little  thing  in  the  land — a  little  thing  ecclesiasti- 
cally, socially,  politically.  And  now  its  apostle  and  champion 
has  fallen,  and  its  friends  are  asking  what  is  to  become  of  it 
now. 

But  let  us  not  fear  for  it.  As  I  saw  the  thousands  come  to 
look  on  his  face,  and  heard  the  words  that  fell  from  their 
lips,  this  was  made  very  clear  to  me,  that  the  movement  has 


496  Forty   Years   in    the    Church  of  Christ 

taken  a  deeper  root  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  than  many  of 
us  are  aware  of.  It  is  not  man's  work,  but  God's,  and  that 
being  the  case  it  will  go  on,  slowly  it  may  be,  and  not  with- 
out a  struggle,  but  in  the  end  it  will  triumph.  The  Church 
of  Rome  cannot  put  it  down. 

Some  see  no  necessity  for  it.  They  tell  us  the  French 
people  do  not  want  it.  They  are  satisfied  with  their  Church 
and  she  is  all  right.  Why  should  we  encourage  schismatics 
and  firebrands  such  as  old  Chiniquy  was?  But  that  was  just 
the  way  men  talked  about  Christ  and  His  vvork,  Paul  and  his 
Gospel.  They  were  not  wanted,  it  was  said.  Things  were 
well  enough  as  they  were;  let  them  alone. 

The  truth  is,  however,  the  Church  of  Rome  is  not  right. 
She  is  standing  in  the  way,  as  she  has  ever  done,  of  the 
country's  progress  and  the  people's  good.  Patriotism  chIIs 
upon  us  as  well  as  piety  to  push  as  we  have  never  done  the 
claims  of  French  evangelization.  As  soon  as  the  people 
know  what  it  is,  the  Gospel  there  is  in  it  for  them,  they  will 
hail  it.  Already  the  leaven  of  doctrine  is  at  work,  and  there 
is  a  waking  up  all  over  the  land.  A  movement  is  developing, 
taking  shape  and  working  out,  the  extent  and  value  of  which 
we  cannot  foresee.  There  is  hope  for  Quebec,  but  not  in  what 
the  Church  of  Rome  can  do  for  her,  but  in  the  direction  of 
Chiniquy's  labour.  It  is  still  the  Gospel  of  Christ  crucified 
that  is  to  save  and  lift  up  the  people,  not  ultramoutanism. 
Give  the  people  the  Word;  sow  the  seed  of  truth  among 
them  with  a  full  hand;  teach  them  of  Jesus;  inspire  them 
with  faith,  and  they  will  awake  as  from  sleep,  and  put  on 
strength. 

Oh!  great  Chiniquy,  we  shall  not  soon  see  thy  like  again. 
Thou  wert  a  greater  man  than  we  knew,  a  mightier  force 
for  good  than  we  realized.  The  Lord  raised  thee  up  to  lead 
forth  an  exodus,  and  although  it  is  still  in  the  wilderness, 
and  the  land  of  promise  still  afar  o  fP,  it  will  yet  get  there 
and  possess  the  land.  In  that  day  it  will  be  seen  as  it  is  not 
to*day  what  it  was  thine  to  do,  what  a  seed  of  faith  it  was 


The  Final  Triumph  497 

thine  to  plant,  and  what  a  crown  it  will  be  thine  to  wear. 
Kest  from  thy  labou  rs,  O  great  worker,  and  let  them  follow 
thee.  Hero  of  many  battles,  thou  didst  fight  well  in  the  cause 
of  truth,  and  now  it  is  the  victor's  crown.  We  saw  thy  faults 
when  thou  wert  with  us,  but  now  we  see  thy  virtues,  and  we 
honour  thee,  for  the  Lord  honoured  thee  above  many.  Fare 
thee  well,  apostle  of  French  evangelization,  till  the  day  when 
it  will  be  ours  to  greet  thee  in  glory  to  come,  shining  amid 
the  shining  ones  near  the  throne.     Amen. 

IV 

RESOLUTIONS    OF    THE    PRESBYTERY    OF    MONTREAL,    OF    WHICH 

FATHER    CHINIQUY    WAS    A    MEMBER. 
AT    MONTREAL,    14tH    DAY   OF    MARCH,    1899. 

The  Presbytery  of  Montreal  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Canada  met  inter  alia.  The  Rev.  Principal  Mac  Vicar,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  on  behalf  of  the  committee  appointed  to  propose  a 
suitable  minute  on  the  death  of  the  late  Rev.  Charles  Chini- 
quy,  D.  D.,  submitted  the  following,  which  was  unanimously 
adopted  by  the  Presbytery: — 

"  The  Rev.  Charles  Chiniquy,  D.  D.,  was  naturally  endowed 
with  talents  of  an  exceptionally  high  order.  The  knowledge 
of  God's  Word  imparted  to  him  in  childhood  by  his  mother 
exerted  a  powerful  moulding  influence  upon  his  character  and 
subsequent  career.  In  early  manhood  he  was  educated  for 
the  priesthood  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  connection  with 
which  he  continued  during  fifty  years.  As  a  priest  he  en- 
joyed in  an  extraordinary  degree  the  confidence  and  venera- 
tion of  the  people,  and  received  from  his  ecclesiastical  supe- 
riors, including  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  special  marks  of  appro- 
bation and  favour.  As  '  the  Apostle  of  Temperance,'  he  accom- 
plished a  great,  beneficent  and  patriotic  work,  and  gained 
unique  distinction  in  his  native  province  and  far  beyond  it. 
Forty  years  ago,  for  reasons  drawn  from  the  Word  of  Grod,  he 
withdrew  from  the  Church  of  Rome,  publicly  renouncing  her 


49^  Forty  Years  in   the  Church  of  Christ 

distinctive  dogmas,  and  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  in  which  ofBce  he  continued  in  good  and 
regular  standing  till  his  demise.  His  unfaltering  faith  in 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  as  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practise,  his  intense  love  of  his 
French  compatriots,  his  burning  missionary  zeal,  his  heroism 
in  fighting  the  battles  of  truth  and  freedom,  and  his  persua- 
sive eloquence  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform,  were  con- 
spicously  recognized  in  the  Old  and  New  World,  as  well  as 
in  New  Zealand  and  Australia.  His  labours  to  the  close  of 
his  long  life  were  most  abundantly  fruitful,  being  mainly 
directed  to  the  enlightenment  of  his  French=Canadian  coun- 
trymen, among  whom  he  was  spared  to  see  that  signal  growth 
of  a  spirit  of  toleration  and  great  advancement  in  their  en- 
joyment of  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  and  in  the  exercise  of 
their  civil  and  religious  rights  as  citizens  of  the  British  Em- 
pire, In  his  ninetieth  year  he  peacefully  fell  asleep  in 
Jesus,  trusting  in  Him  as  the  only  Saviour  and  Mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man." 

Extracted  from  the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Montreal, 

James  Patterson, 

Presbytery = Clerk. 


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Date  Due 

MV2  9  '40 

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JtW-rrH 

98&- 

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